Basketball Recap: Rancho Cotate's Luck Takes a Turn for the Worse on Friday

If Rancho Cotate was feeling good fresh off their 62-42 takedown of St. Vincent de Paul last Wednesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Rancho Cotate Cougars fell just short of the Piner Prospectors by a score of 59-56 on Friday. The Cougars' defeat signaled the end of their seven-game winning streak.

Rancho Cotate's loss came despite strong showings from Adam Pengel and Izayah Rush. Pengel posted 26 points and five boards, while Rush almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine rebounds. The match was Pengel's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Sebastian Barham Hernandez also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

Piner got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Brendan Walker out in front who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten boards. Walker has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 17 times he's played. Jaden Hernandez was another key player, putting up 14 points in addition to eight boards and five steals.

Rancho Cotate's loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 5-1 and their overall record down to 16-3. As for Piner, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a massive bump to their 14-8 record this season.

Rancho Cotate and Piner should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps California Rankings. Rancho Cotate will square off against Elsie Allen at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday up 845 places (219 vs. 1064). Rancho Cotate is looking to tack on another W to their four-game streak on the road. Meanwhile, Piner (ranked 396th) will meet Ukiah (ranked 839th) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Rancho Cotate is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 67.6 points per game this season.