After flying high against the Central Valley Hawks last Thursday, the Merced Bears came back down to earth. Merced was beaten by Atwater 75-44 on Thursday. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Merced in their matchups with Atwater: they've now lost eight in a row.
Averie Steverson and Amiya Brown certainly did their best on Thursday to avoid the loss. Steverson almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds, while Brown scored 12 points along with four steals. Steverson has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last nine times she's played. Aryanna Giddens was another key contributor, scoring five points along with four steals.
Merced dropped their record down to 15-11 with that loss, which was their third straight at home. The slump could be explained by some tough opposition over that stretch, namely Atwater, El Capitan, and Patterson. As for Atwater, the victory was the 11th in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 21-6.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Merced will take on Patterson at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Merced will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 437th, while Patterson is ranked 132nd). As for Atwater, they will be playing in front of their home fans against El Capitan at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Atwater's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last 24 games.
