The Imperial Tigers's 20-9 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They fell just short of Patrick Henry by a score of 48-46. While losing is never fun, Imperial can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 934th, while Patrick Henry is ranked 381st).
When it comes to explaining why Imperial lost on Saturday, one person who can't be blamed is David Scariano. Despite the final result, he scored 27 points. Those 27 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Marc Vitela, who scored eight points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Imperial struggled to work together and finished the game with only three assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Patrick Henry racked up ten assists.
Patrick Henry found their leader in underclassman Isaac Weatherred, who scored 19 points along with four steals. The contest was Weatherred's third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Derek McBride, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Imperial has not been sharp recently, as they've lost ten of their last 12 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-13 record this season. As for Patrick Henry, they pushed their record up to 11-7 with that victory, which was their third straight at home.
Imperial will take on Calipatria at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Patrick Henry and Morse will face off at 6:15 p.m. on January 9th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Hopefully Morse focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Saturday.
