The Yucaipa Thunderbirds posted their closest victory yet this season on Friday. They skirted past Beaumont 43-40. The victory was all the more spectacular given Yucaipa's disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 668th, while Beaumont is ranked 166th).
Leading Yucaipa to victory were Jaxon Lerma and Jonathan Campbell. Lerma scored 13 points along with nine rebounds and two steals, while Campbell dropped a double-double on 13 points and 13 rebounds. Campbell has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last four times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristan Doty, who scored six points.
Loss or not, Beaumont got some senior leadership from Josiah Morgan and Vince tracy Capuras. Morgan scored 13 points along with two steals, while Capuras. scored ten points along with five steals. Morgan has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Adrian Farias was another key contributor, scoring six points along with two steals.
Yucaipa is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 11-13 record this season. As for Beaumont, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-7.
Yucaipa will head out on the road to take on Redlands East Valley at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Redlands East Valley has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 587 points over their last eight games. As for Beaumont, they will be playing at home against Citrus Valley at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Citrus Valley is hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
