The East Nicolaus Spartans had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. Everything went their way against Pierce as East Nicolaus made off with a 46-26 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory East Nicolaus has posted since November 28, 2023.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead East Nicolaus to victory, but perhaps none more so than Rylee Gillespie, who scored nine points along with six assists and five steals. Gillespie is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Tiare Faupula was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with six rebounds.
East Nicolaus is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. As for Pierce, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 7-11.
East Nicolaus will head out on the road to square off against Paradise at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing isn't great for Paradise: they have been struggling with three straight losses at home, while East Nicolaus has snatched up five consecutive wins on the road dating back to last season. Pierce will take on Colusa at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Colusa presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Pierce in California (Colusa is ranked 362nd, while Pierce is ranked 859th).
