After flying high against the Desert View Jaguars last Wednesday, the Nogales Apaches came back down to earth. Nogales took a 61-52 hit to the loss column at the hands of Salpointe Catholic on Thursday. While losing is never fun, Nogales can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 142nd, while Salpointe Catholic is ranked 46th).
Several Apaches players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Diego Ortega, who scored 18 points along with three steals. Rafael Vasavilbaso was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
Nogales struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Salpointe Catholic pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.
Antonio Amador was on fire for Salpointe Catholic: he scored 17 points along with seven rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Amador has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Isaac Lambe, who scored six points along with five rebounds.
Nogales has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-10 record this season. As for Salpointe Catholic, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 14-7.
Nogales will be playing in front of their home fans against Desert View at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Desert View is no doubt hoping to put an end to an eight-game streak of away losses. As for Salpointe Catholic, they won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Canyon del Oro at 7:00 p.m. on January 26th.
