The Sacramento Dragons had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15.8 points), and they went ahead and made it ten on Saturday. They walked away with a 76-68 win over Del Oro. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Sacramento's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Shobal Barksdale led the charge by dropping a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Barksdale has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Kendahl Hearne, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds and five assists.
When it comes to explaining why Del Oro lost, one person who can't be blamed is Caden Pinnick. Despite the final result, he scored 24 points along with five assists and five rebounds. That was a full 35.3% of Del Oro's points, marking the sixth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Williams, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds.
Sacramento has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 13 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season. As for Del Oro, their defeat dropped their record down to 16-5.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Sacramento and Rio Americano will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 15th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. One thing working in Rio Americano's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last three games. As for Del Oro, they will head out on the road to face off against Oak Ridge at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Oak Ridge knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past four matches -- so hopefully Del Oro likes a good challenge.
