After a string of three wins, the Peru Tigers's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They took a 88-83 hit to the loss column at the hands of Maconaquah. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
When it comes to explaining why Peru lost, one person who can't be blamed is Matthew Roettger. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 45 points and 13 rebounds. The game was Roettger's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alex Ross, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds.
Even though they lost, Peru were working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Maconaquah only racked up 14 assists.
It was another big night for Josiah Ball, who dropped a double-double on 45 points and 16 rebounds for Maconaquah. That makes it nine consecutive games in which Ball has scored at least 25% of Maconaquah's points. Ethan Zeiser was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with three blocks.
Peru's defeat ended a 14-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 6-3. As for Maconaquah, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Peru and North Miami will face off at 7:45 p.m. on January 2, 2024 without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. North Miami has now lost seven straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since November 21. Maconaquah is on the road again on Friday and play against Tipton at 7:30 p.m. on January 5, 2024. One thing working in Tipton's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five games.
