The Lakeland Chiefs's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their third straight loss. They took a hard 60-45 fall against Mid Valley. While losing is never fun, Lakeland can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 438th, while Mid Valley is ranked 185th).
Lakeland lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Billy Hazelton, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Talin Vitzakovitch, who scored ten points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Mid Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Demaja Dunston, who scored 20 points along with seven assists and six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Richard Vinansky, who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds.
Lakeland's defeat dropped their record down to 5-8. As for Mid Valley, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 9-5.
Lakeland will look to defend their home court on Monday against Riverside at 6:45 p.m. Riverside knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past nine matchups -- so hopefully Lakeland likes a good challenge. As for Mid Valley, they will head out on the road to square off against Old Forge at 7:00 p.m. on Monday.
