The East Juniata Tigers lost against the Muncy Indians back in February of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. East Juniata lost to Muncy on the road by a decisive 55-38 margin. While losing is never fun, East Juniata can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 685th, while Muncy is ranked 304th).
East Juniata lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Wrett Smith, who scored 20 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Clark Ritzman, who scored eight points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Patrick Zalonis was his usual excellent self, scoring 24 points along with three steals for Muncy. Zalonis hasn't dropped below three steals for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Nathan Rogers, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds.
East Juniata has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-14 record this season. As for Muncy, they pushed their record up to 16-4 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. East Juniata is on the road again on Thursday and plays Harrisburg Christian at 7:00 p.m. on February 8th. Hopefully East Juniata focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Saturday. As for Muncy, they will head out on the road to face off against South Williamsport at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Muncy knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven games -- so hopefully South Williamsport likes a good challenge.
