The Gilbert Christian Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matches by 20 points or more this season. They put the hurt on Marana with a sharp 53-31 win on Saturday. The win was just what Gilbert Christian needed coming off of a 69-30 loss in their prior contest.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Gilbert Christian to victory, but perhaps none more so than Unesu Machiri, who scored 21 points along with six assists and six rebounds. That makes it four consecutive games in which Machiri has scored at least 25% of Gilbert Christian's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lillie Duitsman, who scored 13 points along with five assists.
Despite the loss, Marana saw an underclassman step up: Malaysia Roebuck dropped a double-double on ten points and 13 rebounds. Roebuck is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Bella Corona, who scored no points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Marana were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Gilbert Christian only pulled down three offensive rebounds.
Gilbert Christian's win bumped their record up to 6-4. As for Marana, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-9.
Gilbert Christian and Fountain Hills will face off at 7:00 p.m. on December 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Fountain Hills is strutting with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 57.3 points per game. Marana's road trip will continue as they head out to face Flowing Wells at 7:00 p.m. on December 21st. Flowing Wells presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Marana in Arizona (Flowing Wells is ranked 37th, while Marana is ranked 231st).
