The Hillcrest Trojans had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They came out on top against Murrieta Valley by a score of 72-65. Given Hillcrest's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 69th, while Murrieta Valley is ranked 281st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Nate Bowden was his usual excellent self, scoring 22 points along with six rebounds and five assists. The team also got some help courtesy of McKel Shedrick, who scored 12 points along with seven assists and seven rebounds.
Murrieta Valley lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Collin Ingram, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Parker Steffen, who scored 11 points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Murrieta Valley were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Hillcrest only pulled down six offensive rebounds.
Hillcrest's victory bumped their record up to 7-2. As for Murrieta Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-4.
Hillcrest and Poly will face off at 7:00 p.m. on December 7th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Poly will be looking to keep their three-game home win streak alive. Murrieta Valley is on the road again on Thursday and play against Redlands at 5:30 p.m. on December 7th.
