Basketball Recap: Dynamic Duo of Angel Flores and Travis Bays Lead Ponderosa to Victory

It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but Ponderosa ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They came out on top against the Union Mine Diamondbacks by a score of 89-81. Given the Bruins' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 296th, while the Diamondbacks are ranked 622nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Leading Ponderosa to victory were Travis Bays and Angel Flores. Bays posted 14 points in addition to eight boards and seven assists, while Flores went 8 for 18 on his way to 23 points. The dominant performance gave Bays a new career-high in boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryce Wycinsky, who had eight points and five boards.

Union Mine's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Matt Manfredi, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 14 assists. With that strong performance, Manfredi is now averaging an impressive 2.2 steals per game. Jeremiah Otte was another key player, going 8 of 18 on his way to 20 points and seven boards.

The win made it two in a row for Ponderosa and bumps their season record up to 2-0. As for Union Mine, they are on a six-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-5.

Ponderosa didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 70-54 defeat against Casa Roble on the 5th. As for Union Mine, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, an 89-84 loss against Douglas on the 5th.