The Bella Vista Broncos's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Wednesday after their third straight loss. The game between Bella Vista and Patterson wasn't particularly close, with Bella Vista falling 54-38. While losing is never fun, Bella Vista can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 593rd, while Patterson is ranked 109th).
Bella Vista lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Damian Rickett, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Rickett scored a full 26.3% of Bella Vista's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Zackary Oneil, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.
Patterson had a senior duo take command as David Nnaji scored 20 points along with six rebounds and three steals and Doug Avelar scored 12 points along with three steals. The matchup was Nnaji's 11th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Amari Coley, who scored 13 points.
Bella Vista has fallen quite a ways from their 20-9 record last season and are now at 5-9. As for Patterson, their victory bumped their record up to 10-1.
Bella Vista won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Bear Creek at 2:30 p.m. on December 28th. Bear Creek knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past five games -- so hopefully Bella Vista likes a good challenge. Patterson won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Vacaville at 5:30 p.m. on December 28th.
