The Corning Cardinals waltzed into their matchup Thursday with four straight wins but they left with five. They escaped with a win against Western Sierra Collegiate Academy by the margin of a single free throw, 43-42. The victory was all the more spectacular given Corning's disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 636th, while Western Sierra Collegiate Academy is ranked 160th).
Roman Bennett was his usual excellent self, scoring 17 points along with nine rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaidan Raker, who scored eight points.
When it comes to explaining why Western Sierra Collegiate Academy lost, one person who can't be blamed is Max Frantti . Despite the final result, he scored 15 points. The match was Frantti 's fifth in a row with at least ten points. John Harb was another key contributor, scoring eight points.
Corning's victory bumped their record up to 6-4. As for Western Sierra Collegiate Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-1.
Corning won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Colusa at 7:30 p.m. on December 15th. Hopefully Colusa focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up eight on Thursday. Western Sierra Collegiate Academy won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Williams on December 15th.
