Basketball Recap: Mountain View Proves Higher State Rank Is No Mistake

After having lost a blowout in their previous game against St. Thomas More, Mountain View was happy to have turned things around on Saturday. They walked away with a 71-60 win over the Artesia Pioneers. Given the Mountain Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 113th in Arizona, while the Pioneers are ranked 400th in California), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

It was another big night for Isaiah Romero, who went 6 of 11 from beyond the arc on his way to 30 points. That's the most points he has posted since back in January. The team also got some help courtesy of Chase Reidhead, who posted 13 points and three steals.

Several Pioneers players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Christopher Vargas, who went 6 of 8 on his way to 13 points. Another player making a difference was Jaylen Reed, who had 11 points and five rebounds.

Mountain View now has a winning record of 6-5. As for Artesia, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-4.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. After both having extra time off, Mountain View and Rincon/University will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on January 7, 2025. As for Artesia, they will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Wiseburn- Da Vinci at 6:00 p.m. on January 3, 2025.