The Mammoth Huskies's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight loss. They took a serious blow against Pyramid Lake, falling 72-18. While losing is never fun, Mammoth can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 1074th in California, while Pyramid Lake is ranked 16th in Nevada).
When it comes to explaining why Mammoth lost, one person who can't be blamed is Nicole Smyth. Despite the final result, she scored six points. Smyth is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Esme Carrillo, who scored four points.
Pyramid Lake's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Shalaya Barraza, who scored 16 points along with seven assists. That's the first time this season that Barraza scored 15 or more points. Kaitlin Mandell was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with nine steals.
Mammoth's defeat dropped their record down to 2-4. As for Pyramid Lake, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season.
Mammoth won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Carlin at 9:00 a.m. on December 9th. Carlin comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 23 points in their last four games, a trend the squad is of course eager to reverse. Pyramid Lake and Owyhee will face off at 5:45 p.m. on December 8th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Owyhee's defense has only allowed 26 points per game this season, so Pyramid Lake's offense will have their work cut out for Pyramid Lake.
