The Artesia Pioneers waltzed into their matchup on Thursday with two straight wins but they left with three. They secured a 52-48 W over Oxford Academy. Given Artesia's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 428th, while the Patriots are ranked 1056th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Zion Staples continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 19 points and 20 rebounds. He hasn't dropped below 12 rebounds for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaylen Reed, who scored six points along with 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Artesia has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-9 record this season. As for Oxford Academy, their loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 7-21.
Artesia does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Oxford Academy also has no future games currently scheduled.
