The Taft Toreadors and the Verdugo Hills Dons squared off in some playoff action on Thursday, but sadly the Taft Toreadors had to settle for second. They received a tough blow as they fell 59-41 to the Dons. Taft's loss continues an unfortunate trend for the squad, making it nine in a row.
Taft lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Claudia Aber, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 16 rebounds. Aber hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Saxon Bagby, who scored 13 points along with four steals.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Verdugo Hills to victory, but perhaps none more so than Rayleen Castanos, who almost dropped a double-double on nine assists and ten steals. Castanos is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed four or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Nicole Olivera, who scored 15 points along with three steals.
Taft has traveled a rocky road recently having lost ten of their last 11 games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-18 record this season. As for Verdugo Hills, the victory was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 18-11.
Taft does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Verdugo Hills, they will head out on the road to face off against Poly at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Poly is coming into the match with four straight victories at home, so Verdugo Hills is out to stop a squad with plenty of momentum.
