The Bethel Bison pushed their score all the way to 60 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 73-60 hit to the loss column at the hands of Emerald Ridge. While losing is never fun, Bethel can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Washington basketball rankings (they are ranked 206th, while Emerald Ridge is ranked 73rd).
Several Bison players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Kemetrius Babbs, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds. Babbs set a new season high mark in steals with four. Another player making a difference was Malik Sidbe, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Bethel's defeat was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 1-4. As for Emerald Ridge, their victory bumped their record up to 4-1.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Bethel will challenge Kelso at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Kelso's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season. Emerald Ridge won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Tahoma at 7:30 p.m. on December 16th. Tahoma has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
