The Manzano Monarchs's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their eighth straight loss. They ended up on the wrong side of a rough 85-65 walloping at the hands of Highland. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game last Wednesday (55), Manzano still had to take the loss.
Despite the loss, Manzano still got an impressive performance from Donavan Rhodes, who scored 26 points. Rhodes is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last three games he's played. Shane Erni was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Leading Highland to victory were Raul Stanford and Jesus Licon. Stanford scored 22 points along with nine assists and seven rebounds, while Licon went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points and 8 assists. That's the first time this season that Licon posted eight or more assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Owen Cheng, who scored 15 points.
Manzano dropped their record down to 4-11 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.0 points per game. As for Highland, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 13-4.
Manzano will head out on the road to take on Los Lunas at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Los Lunas presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Manzano in New Mexico (Los Lunas is ranked 17th, while Manzano is ranked 68th). As for Highland, they will be playing at home against Belen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Belen's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last seven matchups.
