On Tuesday, Sun Valley ended up a good deal behind Butler and lost 71-53. While losing is never fun, Sun Valley can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 394th, while Butler is ranked 100th).
Sun Valley's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Kaleel Benjamin, who scored 11 points along with four steals and four blocks. Another player making a difference was Jayden Jeffery, who scored nine points.
Leading Butler to victory were DeQuadre Currence and Tyler Showalter. Currence scored 15 points along with eight assists and six rebounds, while Showalter scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. That's the first time this season that Currence scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Terrance Badio, who scored 12 points.
This is the second loss in a row for Sun Valley and nudges their season record down to 5-11. As for Butler, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 10-6.
Sun Valley will be playing at home against Marvin Ridge at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Marvin Ridge is strutting with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 57.5 points per game. Butler will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against Independence at 7:30 p.m. on January 19th. Independence will be looking to keep their four-game home win streak alive.
