Basketball Recap: Bakersfield Proves Higher State Rank Is No Mistake

On Friday, the Bakersfield Drillers didn't have too much breathing room in their match against the Davis Sr. Blue Devils, but they still walked away with a 75-70 win. Given the Drillers' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 212th, while the Blue Devils are ranked 578th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Kade Johnson was his usual excellent self, going 10 of 16 en route to 25 points along with five rebounds and three steals. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 15.6 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Rashaan Shehee, who posted 11 points in addition to eight steals and seven assists.

Bakersfield was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.

Davis Sr. lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Jamie MacDonald, who went 6 of 8 on his way to 15 points along with six assists and six boards. The dominant performance gave MacDonald a new career-high in assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Rhys Crawford, who put up 11 points in addition to six boards and three blocks.

Bakersfield's victory bumped their record up to 10-5. As for Davis Sr., they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 5-7.

Bakersfield wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 63-41 defeat against Orange Lutheran on the 28th. As for Davis Sr., they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 79-60 loss against Ventura on the 28th.