The Patterson Tigers won the last time they faced the El Capitan Gauchos, and things went their way on Thursday too. Patterson came out on top against El Capitan by a score of 45-37. Given Patterson's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 95th, while El Capitan is ranked 291st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Patterson got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Taylor Mason out in front who scored 15 points along with four steals. Mason continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Siena Musson, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 18 rebounds.
El Capitan lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Madysen Dietz, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and seven steals. Dietz is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Avnoor Bains was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with four steals.
Patterson's win was their ninth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-1. They've been dominating during the matches in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 26.22 points. As for El Capitan, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-4.
Patterson will be staying on the road on Saturday to face off against Central Valley at 3:00 p.m. on January 13th. Central Valley is coming into the game on a three-game losing streak. As for El Capitan, they will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against Atwater at 7:15 p.m. Atwater knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past 18 matchups -- so hopefully El Capitan likes a good challenge.
