After a string of nine wins, the Rancho Rams's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They fell just short of Sierra Vista by a score of 71-69. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game on Friday (65), Rancho still had to take the loss.
Rancho lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being R'Zha Whittle, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 16 rebounds. Whittle continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jakoi Lide, who scored 20 points along with seven assists and two steals.
Rancho's loss dropped their record down to 17-4. As for Sierra Vista, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Rancho will take on Pinecrest Academy Cadence at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Pinecrest Academy Cadence will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Nevada Rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while Rancho is ranked eighth). Sierra Vista's road trip will continue as they head out to face Las Vegas at 6:30 p.m. on January 22nd. Las Vegas is coming into the contest on a four-game losing streak.
