The Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils suffered their closest loss yet this season on Friday. They fell just short of St. Augustine Catholic by a score of 58-55. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Santa Cruz Valley in their matchups with St. Augustine Catholic: they've now lost five in a row.
Santa Cruz Valley's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Nathan Harris, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 24 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Harris has scored all season. Esequiel Perez was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with six rebounds and four steals.
Peter Dogbegah continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for St. Augustine Catholic, dropping a double-double on 20 points and 18 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Lance Marchessault, who scored seven points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Santa Cruz Valley's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-6. As for St. Augustine Catholic, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season.
Santa Cruz Valley will head out on the road to take on Tempe Prep at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Tempe Prep is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak. As for St. Augustine Catholic, they will look to defend their home court on Monday against Sequoia Pathway Academy at 7:00 p.m. Sequoia Pathway Academy is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'.