The Mountain Pointe Pride's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fifth straight loss. They fell just short of Casa Grande by a score of 54-51. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat Mountain Pointe has suffered since December 14, 2023.
Despite the loss, Mountain Pointe still got an impressive performance from Alexis Emerson-Berryhill, who scored 19 points along with six rebounds and three steals. That was a full 37.3% of Mountain Pointe's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Nia Rowe, who scored 12 points along with two steals.
Leading Casa Grande to victory were Kaydence Apkaw and Tyra Vaughn. Apkaw scored 15 points along with nine rebounds and five assists, while Vaughn scored 22 points along with nine rebounds. That's the first time this season that Apkaw pulled down eight or more rebounds. Baleigh Nash was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Mountain Pointe's loss was their eighth straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 1-17. As for Casa Grande, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 6-12.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Mountain Pointe won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Campo Verde at 7:00 p.m. on January 19th. Hopefully Campo Verde focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Thursday. As for Casa Grande, they will head out on the road to square off against Higley at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Higley presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Casa Grande in Arizona (Higley is ranked 46th, while Casa Grande is ranked 203rd).
