The Valley Vista Monsoon's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their tenth straight loss. They took a hard 95-79 fall against Cesar Chavez. While losing is never fun, Valley Vista can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 166th, while Cesar Chavez is ranked 25th).
Several Monsoon players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Javani Jones, who scored 15 points along with three steals. Another player making a difference was Nate Cosio, who went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 19 points and 1 assist.
Cesar Chavez's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Lex Clontz, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 32 points and 3 assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Clontz has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabriel Briones, who scored 20 points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Valley Vista bumped their record down to 4-11 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.7 points per game. As for Cesar Chavez, the win was the 13th in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 16-2.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Valley Vista won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against West Point at 4:30 p.m. on January 13th. West Point knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past ten matches -- so hopefully Valley Vista likes a good challenge. As for Cesar Chavez, they will head out on the road to take on Tolleson at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
