The Porterville Panthers suffered their biggest loss since November 18, 2023 on Friday. They were dealt a 65-35 defeat at the hands of El Diamante. Porterville was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as El Diamante apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in November of 2023.
Despite the loss, Porterville saw an underclassman step up: Ryleigh Schoonover dropped a double-double on 22 points and 18 rebounds. That was a full 62.9% of Porterville's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Aliya Gibson, who scored six points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Porterville's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-8. As for El Diamante, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 11-7.
Porterville will look to defend their home court on Saturday against Farmersville at 1:30 p.m. One thing working in Farmersville's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last three games. As for El Diamante, they will head out on the road to challenge Sierra Pacific at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Sierra Pacific is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune.
