On Friday, the Foothill Falcons faced the Coronado Cougars in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Foothill took a 59-47 hit to the loss column at the hands of Coronado. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Foothill in their matchups with Coronado: they've now lost five in a row.
When it comes to explaining why Foothill lost, one person who can't be blamed is Zak Abdalla. Despite the final result, he scored 19 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. Abdalla has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last four times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Shawn Salazar, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Coronado's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Lantz Stephenson, who scored 19 points. Stephenson is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Tee Bartlett, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Foothill bumped their record down to 11-8 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road. As for Coronado, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 12-8.
Foothill won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Las Vegas at 3:00 p.m. on January 20th. Las Vegas is coming into the match on a four-game losing streak. As for Coronado, they will look to defend their home court on Saturday against Bishop Gorman at 7:30 p.m. Bishop Gorman has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 715 points over their last ten matches.
