The El Paso Tigers struggled with assists on Friday (the Bel Air Highlanders had 15 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. El Paso took a 34-27 hit to the loss column at the hands of Bel Air. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for El Paso in their matchups with Bel Air: they've now lost three in a row.
Despite the loss, El Paso still got an impressive performance from Natalia Thomas, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. The match was Thomas' fourth in a row with at least ten points.
Bel Air found their leader in underclassman Jayde Martinez, who scored nine points along with seven assists and seven steals. Martinez is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Alyssa Saldana, who scored nine points along with five steals.
El Paso's loss dropped their record down to 16-4. As for Bel Air, they pushed their record up to 15-2 with that win, which was their 17th straight at home dating back to last season.
El Paso will be home for the holidays to greet Hanks at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Hanks focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up ten on Friday. Bel Air will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Jefferson at 7:30 p.m. on January 2, 2024. Jefferson comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 22 points in their last six games, a trend the team is of course eager to reverse.
