Basketball Recap: Merced Comes Up Short

Merced lost against El Capitan back in January and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The Merced Bears took a blow against the El Capitan Gauchos, falling 65-38. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 413th, while the Gauchos are ranked 119th).

Merced's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Samantha Barragan, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten boards. Those ten rebounds gave Barragan a new career-high. Averie Steverson was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on nine points and ten boards.

Alexis Valenzuela continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines for El Capitan, dropping a double-double on 28 points and 12 steals. Valenzuela has been hot recently, having posted six or more steals the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Madysen Dietz, who posted nine points along with eight steals and five rebounds.

Merced's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-10. As for El Capitan, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 20-4.

Merced will head out on the road to square off against Los Banos at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. As for El Capitan, they will be playing at home against Buhach Colony at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing is sure in El Capitan's favor as the team sits on eight straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Buhach Colony has been banged up by 11 consecutive losses on the road.