The Palisade Bulldogs's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fifth straight defeat. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 38-37 to Grand Junction Central. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Palisade of the 52-37 defeat they experienced in the two teams' previous head-to-head fixture back in January of 2023.
Palisade lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Fred Moore, who scored eight points along with six rebounds. Another player making a difference was LJ Ballenger, who scored ten points.
Grand Junction Central can attribute much of their success to Jackson Amos, who scored nine points along with two steals. Amos hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaine Thorton, who scored six points along with five rebounds.
Palisade has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last seven matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-11 record this season. As for Grand Junction Central, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-7 record this season.
Coincidentally, both teams will both be playing Eagle Valley the next time they take the court. Grand Junction Central will head out to face Eagle Valley at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, while Palisade will head out to face them at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
