It was a good run, but the Macksville Mustangs unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a 47-42 hit to the loss column at the hands of Larned. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Macksville came into the matchup with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 83rd, while Larned is ranked 267th).
Despite the loss, Macksville still got an impressive performance from Diego Esparza, who scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. That was a full 50% of Macksville's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Orion Guevara, who scored eight points.
Macksville's loss dropped their record down to 6-3. As for Larned, their victory ended a five-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-6-1.
Macksville will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Central Plains at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Larned, they will take on Nickerson at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Nickerson focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 16 on Tuesday.