The Scotts Valley Falcons will finish 2023 at home by hosting the St. Francis Sharks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The pair were dealt some close losses in their previous games and are determined not to let this one get away.
Last Wednesday, it was a hard-fought contest, but Scotts Valley had to settle for a 49-46 defeat against Oak Grove.
Meanwhile, St. Francis' recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their third straight loss. They fell just short of Harbor by a score of 80-78. Even though they lost, St. Francis' still made a splash on offense and bumped their average scoring up to 50.8 points per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).
Loss or not, St. Francis got some senior leadership from Sam Braun who scored 31 points along with six rebounds and three steals and Joseph Rose who scored 24 points along with six rebounds and four blocks. Braun scored a full 39.7% of St. Francis' points, the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Robert Gomez, who scored 11 points.
Scotts Valley has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-8 record this season. As for St. Francis, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-8.
Scotts Valley didn't have too much breathing room in their match against St. Francis in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, but they still walked away with a 63-59 win. Does Scotts Valley have another victory up their sleeve, or will St. Francis turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
