Basketball Recap: Thornton Comes Up Short

Thornton was the 33-21 winner over Aurora Central when they last played one another back in February of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Thornton Trojans received a blow on Thursday as they fell 44-27 to the Aurora Central Trojans. Thornton has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Despite the defeat, Thornton saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Phoenix Manchego posted eight points in addition to six boards and three blocks. Those eight points gave Manchego a new career-high.

Even though they lost, Thornton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in five consecutive matches.

Jamaea Johnson-Gonzales was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 28 points and 12 rebounds for Aurora Central. Another player making a difference was Andena Torres, who earned five points and eight boards.

Thornton's loss dropped their record down to 4-11. As for Aurora Central, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season.

Thornton will head out on the road to challenge Hinkley at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Thornton is facing Hinkley at the right time seeing as Hinkley is stuck on an eight-game losing streak. Aurora Central has already played their next contest (against Skyview), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.