The Casa Grande Cougars's eight-game losing streak came to an end on Thursday. They skirted past Mountain Pointe 54-51. The win was just what Casa Grande needed coming off of a 62-14 defeat in their prior matchup.
Casa Grande was led to victory by Kaydence Apkaw and Tyra Vaughn. Apkaw scored 15 points along with nine rebounds and five assists, while Vaughn scored 22 points along with nine rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Vaughn has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Baleigh Nash, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
When it comes to explaining why Mountain Pointe lost, one person who can't be blamed is Alexis Emerson-Berryhill. Despite the final result, she scored 19 points along with six rebounds and three steals. That was a full 37.3% of Mountain Pointe's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Nia Rowe was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with two steals.
Casa Grande's win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 6-12. As for Mountain Pointe, their loss was their eighth straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 1-17.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Casa Grande will square off against Higley at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Higley presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Casa Grande in Arizona (Higley is ranked 46th, while Casa Grande is ranked 203rd). Mountain Pointe won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Campo Verde at 7:00 p.m. on January 19th. Hopefully Campo Verde focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Thursday.
