The San Jacinto Tigers were the 67-61 winner over the Heritage Patriots when they last played one another back in December of 2021, but their luck changed this time around. San Jacinto took a hard 80-66 fall against Heritage on Monday. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
When it comes to explaining why San Jacinto lost, one person who can't be blamed is Stephen Castleberry. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 25 points and 11 rebounds. Castleberry is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last eight games he's played.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Heritage to victory, but perhaps none more so than Adrian Viray, who scored 25 points along with five assists and two steals. Viray continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. Donovan Larry was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with four steals.
This is the second loss in a row for San Jacinto and nudges their season record down to 8-8. As for Heritage, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 8-12.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. San Jacinto won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Citrus Hill at 5:30 p.m. on January 16th. Citrus Hill has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 404 points over their last six games. As for Heritage, they will head out on the road to take on Paloma Valley at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Paloma Valley has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 206 points over their last three contests.
