There's no place like home for the Coachella Valley Mighty Arabs, who bounced back after a tough loss on the road last Friday. They walked away with a 76-68 win over Banning on Tuesday. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Leading Coachella Valley to victory were Franky Aguirre and Israel Garcia. Aguirre scored 24 points, while Garcia scored 25 points. Garcia has been hot recently, having posted 16 or more points the last four times he's played. Mark Alexander Gonzalez Lomeli was another key contributor, scoring ten points.
Banning's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Junior Dunahoo, who scored 27 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Dunahoo has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Aguilar, who scored 18 points.
Coachella Valley's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-18. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.3 points per game. As for Banning, they are on a six-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 7-19.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Coachella Valley won't have much time to rest: their next game is against the RAMS at 5:30 p.m. on January 31st. Desert Mirage comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 23 points in their last seven games, a trend the team is of course eager to reverse. As for Banning, they will be playing at home against the Lions at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Cathedral City is coming into the match on a three-game losing streak.
