The Union Mine Diamondbacks had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18.1 points), and they went ahead and made it 11 on Saturday. They took down Bella Vista 71-53. Given Union Mine's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 165th, while Bella Vista is ranked 589th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Despite the loss, Bella Vista still got an impressive performance from Damian Rickett, who dropped a double-double on 36 points and 14 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Maxwell Prucher, who scored nine points.
Union Mine's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-1. As for Bella Vista, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-8.
Union Mine and River City will face off at 5:30 p.m. on December 27th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. That game will pit two of the most dominant players against one another: Tyrone Orr and Nate Sweet. Bella Vista will finish 2023 at home by hosting Patterson at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
