The Santana Sultans lost against the Monte Vista Monarchs back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Tuesday. Santana lost to the Monarchs at home by a decisive 71-54 margin. While losing is never fun, Santana can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 987th, while the Monarchs are ranked 424th).
Santana lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Dain Diaz, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine rebounds. Jakob Kielinen was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
Santana has been struggling recently as they've lost seven of their last eight matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-16 record this season. As for Monte Vista, their win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-8.
Santana will challenge the Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Monte Vista, they will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Foothillers at 7:00 p.m. Grossmont is coming into the game on a six-game losing streak.
