The Coolidge Bears waltzed into Saturday's matchup with three straight wins but they left with four. They walked away with a 63-54 win over Nogales. Given Coolidge's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 30th, while Nogales is ranked 98th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Leading Coolidge to victory were Ja'kwan Jordan and Tory Gholston. Jordan dropped a double-double on 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Gholston scored 27 points. That makes it two consecutive games in which Gholston has scored at least 25% of Coolidge's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Thomas Nelson Jr., who scored 3 points along with 8 rebounds.
Despite the defeat, Nogales had strong showings from Diego Ortega, who scored 19 points, and Tony Rodriguez, who scored 15 points. The matchup was Ortega's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Andres Franco, who scored 6 points.
Coolidge's victory bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Nogales, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-2.
Coolidge will head out on the road to face off against Bourgade Catholic at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. As for Nogales, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Tucson High Magnet School at 7:00 p.m. on Monday.
