The Pittsburg Pirates struggled with offensive rebounds on Friday (the Heritage Patriots had eight more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Pittsburg was the victim of a rough 60-36 defeat at the hands of Heritage. While losing is never fun, Pittsburg can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 697th, while Heritage is ranked 135th).
Pittsburg's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jackie Martinez, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Ali Tautolo, who scored seven points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Heritage found their leader in underclassman Ze'ni Patterson, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds. Patterson is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Aubrey Villamor, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Pittsburg has not been sharp recently as the team has lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-15 record this season. As for Heritage, their win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-8.
Pittsburg will head out on the road to take on Liberty at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Liberty will roll in looking for their eighth straight victory, something Pittsburg surely won't give up without a fight. As for Heritage, they won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Vanden at 5:00 p.m. on February 3rd. Vanden is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune.
