Basketball Recap: Charlie Gilloth's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Heritage over Monarch

Heritage was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They received a blow as they fell 81-67 to the Monarch Coyotes. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (55), the Eagles still had to take the loss.

Heritage's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Charlie Gilloth, who went 7 of 16 en route to 17 points. The contest was Gilloth's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Brayden Chaney, who went 5 for 10 on his way to 12 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals.

Even though they lost, Heritage was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Monarch only racked up five assists.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Monarch to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ryder Hutton, who went 7 of 12 en route to 19 points. Hutton continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Montemayor, who made all 6 shots he took to post 14 points and six rebounds.

Heritage's loss dropped their record down to 6-6. As for Monarch, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. It'll be Battle of the Birds when the Heritage Eagles challenge the Mountain Vista Golden Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Monarch, they will host Mead at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Monarch knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past six games -- so hopefully Mead likes a good challenge.