Basketball Recap: Coastal Christian Takes a Loss

After flying high against Maricopa last Tuesday, Coastal Christian came back down to earth. The Coastal Christian Conquerors were just a bucket shy of victory on Friday and fell 57-56 to the Valley Christian Academy Lions. The defensive woes were uncharacteristic for the Conquerors, who until this contest were averaging 13.25 points allowed.

Several Conquerors players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jenna Starkovich, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 14 boards. The dominant performance gave Starkovich a new career-high in rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Bristol Machgan, who almost dropped a double-double on 18 points and nine boards.

Even though they lost, Coastal Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in 11 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

Valley Christian Academy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Elle Mason, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. The game was Mason's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Isabel Salazar was another key player, going 5 for 12 en route to 12 points along with six steals and five boards.

Coastal Christian's defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-1. As for Valley Christian Academy, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 10-7.

Coastal Christian wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 68-4 victory against Coast Union on the 14th. Valley Christian Academy has also already played their next matchup, a 60-13 win against San Luis Obispo Classical Academy on the 14th.