After a string of 19 wins, the Escalon Cougars's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They fell 61-53 to Hughson. Escalon has not had much luck with Hughson recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Despite the defeat, Escalon saw an underclassman step up: Arianna Velasco scored 15 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Velasco has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. Sammy Lang was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds.
It was another big night for Madi Duron, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 14 rebounds for Hughson. Duron hasn't dropped below two steals for 13 straight games. Another player making a difference was Gracie Quillen, who scored six points along with seven assists and seven rebounds.
Escalon's loss ended a nine-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 19-1. As for Hughson, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Escalon won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Hilmar at 5:30 p.m. on January 19th. Hopefully Hilmar focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Thursday. As for Hughson, they will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against Ripon Christian at 7:00 p.m. Ripon Christian is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road.
