The Basha Bears fought the good fight in their overtime contest against the Spanish Springs Cougars on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Cougars by a score of 63-60. While losing is never fun, Basha can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 77th in Arizona, while Spanish Springs is ranked 13th in Nevada).
Basha's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Audrey O'Connor, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and four steals, and Grace Beckler who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 16 rebounds. Beckler scored a full 26.7% of Basha's points, the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Rose Bosch, who scored 12 points along with three steals.
Spanish Springs found their leader in underclassman Aaliyah Vance, who scored 17 points along with five assists and four steals. Those five assists set a new season-high mark for her. Layni Noonkester was another key contributor, scoring 16 points.
This is the second loss in a row for Basha and nudges their season record down to 8-6. As for Spanish Springs, their win bumped their record up to 8-5.
Basha and Ventura will face off at 4:30 p.m. on December 29, 2023 without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Ventura will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak. Spanish Springs and Sunny Hills will face off at 3:00 p.m. on December 29, 2023 without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Sunny Hills has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
