The El Rancho Dons lost against the Whittier Cardinals back in January of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Wednesday. El Rancho took a 51-39 hit to the loss column at the hands of Whittier. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for El Rancho in their matchups with Whittier: they've now lost five in a row.
Despite the defeat, El Rancho saw an underclassman step up: Emery Riker dropped a double-double on 25 points and 17 rebounds. Riker hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for 11 straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Carissa Basurto, who scored two points along with 14 rebounds and two steals.
Leading Whittier to victory were Monica Menzies and Andrea Castillo. Menzies scored 12 points along with seven steals and five assists, while Castillo scored 19 points along with four steals. That's the first time this season that Castillo scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Kassandra Mendoza, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
El Rancho bumped their record down to 13-8 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. As for Whittier, their victory bumped their record up to 6-15.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. El Rancho will take on La Serna at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. La Serna is coming into the contest hot, having won their last three games. As for Whittier, they will look to defend their home court on Friday against Santa Fe at 5:15 p.m. Hopefully Santa Fe focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 34 on Wednesday.
