The Beaumont Cougars pushed their score all the way to 61 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 72-61 to Redlands East Valley. Despite running the score up even higher than they did last Friday (60), Beaumont still had to take the loss.
Beaumont lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Josiah Morgan, who scored 16 points. Those 16 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Payton Joseph, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Redlands East Valley's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jeremiah Ivens, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds. The game was Ivens' fifth in a row with at least ten points. Caio Da Silva was another key contributor, scoring 20 points along with three steals.
Beaumont's defeat ended a six-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-6. As for Redlands East Valley, the victory was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 12-7.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Beaumont will take on Redlands at 6:45 p.m. on Friday. Redlands will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 552nd, while Beaumont is ranked 142nd). As for Redlands East Valley, they will look to defend their home court on Friday against Citrus Valley at 6:45 p.m.
