The Mastery Charter North - Pickett Pumas's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their fifth straight loss. They took a serious blow against Simon Gratz, falling 67-39. While losing is never fun, Mastery Charter North - Pickett can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 502nd, while Simon Gratz is ranked 221st).
Despite the defeat, Mastery Charter North - Pickett saw an underclassman step up: Jacob Mitchell scored 20 points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Simon Gratz to victory, but perhaps none more so than Sihaaj Johnson, who scored 15 points. Johnson has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Rashaan Murphy, who scored 13 points.
Mastery Charter North - Pickett's loss was their ninth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 5-8. As for Simon Gratz, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 8-5.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Mastery Charter North - Pickett won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Constitution at 7:00 p.m. on January 16th. Constitution has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 290 points over their last four contests. As for Simon Gratz, they will head out on the road to face off against Maritime Academy Charter at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Maritime Academy Charter is coming into the game on a four-game losing streak.
