After two games on the road, Monrovia is heading back home. They will be home for the holidays to greet the Mooresville Pioneers at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
While it was all tied up 29-29 at halftime, Monrovia was not quite Martinsville's equal in the second half on Saturday. Monrovia fell to Martinsville 67-63. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Despite their defeat, Monrovia saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Hayden McCloud, who scored 15 points, was perhaps the best of all. McCloud also grabbed two steals for the first time this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tucker Rahn, who scored 21 points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Mooresville was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Wednesday as they fell 55-51 to Bedford North Lawrence. While losing is never fun, Mooresville can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 327th, while Bedford North Lawrence is ranked 114th).
Monrovia's defeat dropped their record down to 2-4. As for Mooresville, their defeat was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 2-6.
Monrovia was taken down by Mooresville 79-30 in their previous meeting back in February of 2015. The contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Monrovia was down 46-15.
