The Dobson Mustangs struggled with assists on Thursday (the Highland Hawks had seven more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Dobson fell to Highland 58-53. While losing is never fun, Dobson can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 83rd, while Highland is ranked 14th).
When it comes to explaining why Dobson lost, one person who can't be blamed is Donovan Beard. Despite the final result, he scored 23 points. Beard scored a full 43.4% of Dobson's points, the sixth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Zayn Young was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Highland was led to victory by Nick Reber and Michael Johnson. Reber scored 13 points along with five assists, while Johnson scored 19 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Johnson hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Ty Crandall, who scored ten points along with six rebounds.
Dobson has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-8 record this season. As for Highland, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season.
Dobson will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Red Mountain at 7:00 p.m. on January 11th. Highland won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Liberty at 2:30 p.m. on December 29, 2023. Hopefully Liberty focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Thursday.
