The East Central Hornets had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.5 points), and they went ahead and made it nine on Friday. They greeted the New Year with with a 66-51 victory over Clemens. That result was just more of the same for these two, as East Central also won the last time the pair played back in January of 2023.
Leading East Central to victory were A'maya Holton and Emery Espinoza. Holton dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Espinoza scored 31 points along with three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Espinoza has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Alesha Dillworth, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Despite the defeat, Clemens had strong showings from Anaya Williams, who scored 18 points, and Duda Igiehon, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds. Atiana Cook was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with three steals.
Clemens struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
East Central is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 17 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 19-8 record this season. As for Clemens, their loss dropped their record down to 17-9.
East Central will head out on the road to challenge San Marcos at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. San Marcos has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 458 points over their last seven contests. As for Clemens, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Steele at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Steele presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Clemens in Texas (Steele is ranked 55th, while Clemens is ranked 259th).
