The East Nicolaus Spartans's game on Friday was a tough loss, but they didn't let that memory haunt them on Saturday. They managed a 38-32 victory over Loyalton. That result was just more of the same for these two, as East Nicolaus also won the last time the pair played back in December of 2021.
Leading East Nicolaus to victory were Rylee Gillespie and Makinze Massey. Gillespie scored 13 points along with 9 steals and 6 assists, while Massey dropped a double-double on 17 points and 13 rebounds. That makes it five consecutive games in which Massey has scored at least 25% of East Nicolaus' points.
Despite the loss, Loyalton saw an underclassman step up: Catherine Petterson scored 16 points along with 4 steals. Petterson is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Mollie Griffin, who scored 5 points along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
East Nicolaus now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Loyalton, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-3.
East Nicolaus will be playing at home against Weed at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Weed presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than East Nicolaus in California (Weed is ranked tenth, while East Nicolaus is ranked 596th). As for Loyalton, they will head out on the road to face off against Princeton at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
