If the Pleasanton Blu-Jays were feeling good off their 61-21 takedown of the Yates Center Wildcats last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Pleasanton's rough 83-58 loss to Erie on Wednesday might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, Pleasanton can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 299th, while Erie is ranked 149th).
Several Blu-Jays players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Mario Davis, who scored 22 points along with six rebounds and two steals. That was a full 37.9% of Pleasanton's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Tony Gillespie was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with two steals.
Erie got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Michael Richenburg out in front who went 9 for 12 from beyond the arc en route to 29 points and 1 assist. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Richenburg has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Dillinger, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Pleasanton's defeat dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Erie, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.
Pleasanton won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Jayhawk Linn at 12:00 p.m. on January 18th. As for Erie, they will head out on the road to challenge Fredonia at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
