The Imperial Tigers had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They secured a 51-45 W over Palo Verde Valley. For Imperial, this counts as revenge for the 61-59 defeat the Yellow Jackets walked away with the last time they faced one another back in January.
Imperial's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Marc Vitela, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Vitela has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of David Scariano, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Palo Verde Valley lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Ezekiel Gibson, who scored ten points along with seven rebounds and four steals. Gibson hasn't dropped below two blocks for eight straight games. Rudy Armstrong was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with four steals.
Imperial has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 10-15 record this season. As for Palo Verde Valley, they dropped their record down to 7-13 with that defeat, which was their fifth straight at home.
Imperial won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against the Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on February 2nd. As for Palo Verde Valley, they will head out on the road to square off against the Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Southwest EC has now lost 18 straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since November 18.
