The Gregori Jaguars pushed their score all the way to 60 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Ripon Christian 65-60. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Gregori in their matchups with Ripon Christian: they've now lost three in a row.
Despite the defeat, Gregori saw an underclassman step up: Jayson Powers scored 19 points along with eight rebounds and three blocks. Powers scored a full 31.7% of Gregori's points, the eighth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Dru Shafer, who scored 13 points.
Ripon Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jake Vander Veen led the charge by scoring 24 points. The contest was Vander Veen's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Amos Cady, who scored 19 points.
Gregori has not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season. As for Ripon Christian, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Gregori won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Liberty Ranch at 5:00 p.m. on December 8th. Liberty Ranch is coming into the match on a four-game losing streak. Ripon Christian and Christian Brothers will face off at 6:30 p.m. on December 8th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Christian Brothers knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past five matchups -- so hopefully Ripon Christian likes a good challenge.
