After a string of three wins, the Santa Maria Saints's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They opened the new year with a less-than-successful 49-36 loss to Righetti. Santa Maria has struggled against Righetti recently, as their game on Friday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Santa Maria lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Alyssa Reyes, who scored ten points. Nevaeh Madrigal was another key contributor, scoring four points along with seven steals and six rebounds.
It was another big night for Bree Luna, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 11 rebounds for Righetti. Those 11 rebounds set a new season-high mark for her. The team also got some help courtesy of Natalee Torres, who scored eight points along with three steals.
Santa Maria's defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 13-5. As for Righetti, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Santa Maria is on the road again on Tuesday and play against San Luis Obispo at 6:30 p.m. on January 9th. As for Righetti, they will square off against Nipomo at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Nipomo will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 975th, while Righetti is ranked 193rd).
