The Liberty Ranch Hawks's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their fourth straight loss. They suffered a rough 82-57 defeat at the hands of Union Mine. While losing is never fun, Liberty Ranch can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 823rd, while Union Mine is ranked 186th).
Liberty Ranch lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Yousef Diab, who scored 20 points along with eight rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Diab has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Elliott Hawker, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
Liberty Ranch struggled to work together and finished the game with only three assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Leading Union Mine to victory were Isaac Zmerzlikar and Nate Sweet. Zmerzlikar dropped a double-double on 18 points and 16 rebounds, while Sweet scored 28 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Sweet is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last three games he's played. Ethan Gines was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with 13 assists and three steals.
Liberty Ranch has not been sharp recently, as they've lost six of their last seven contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-16 record this season. As for Union Mine, they pushed their record up to 22-2 with that win, which was their 17th straight at home dating back to last season.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Liberty Ranch will take on Bradshaw Christian at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Bradshaw Christian focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Tuesday. As for Union Mine, they will stay at home for another game and welcome Rosemont at 7:00 p.m. on January 26th. Rosemont is coming into the game hot, having won their last three games.
