The Mesquite Wildcats had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They had just enough and edged Saguaro out 67-64. Given Mesquite's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 15th, while Saguaro is ranked 136th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mesquite found their leader in underclassman Desean Middlebrook, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and ten rebounds. That makes it four consecutive games in which Middlebrook has scored at least 25% of Mesquite's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaylen Wollangk, who scored 13 points along with nine assists and four steals.
Mesquite has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season. As for Saguaro, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-9.
Mesquite will head out on the road to face off against St. Mary's at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. St. Mary's is on a three-game streak of home wins, Mesquite a three-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court. Saguaro will take on Coronado at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
