The Golden Sierra Grizzlies's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their third straight loss. They were outmatched by Fortune Early College at home and fell 67-27. While losing is never fun, Golden Sierra can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1020th, while Fortune Early College is ranked 456th).
Golden Sierra's loss came despite strong showings from Zofia Bradford and Skyler Tory. Bradford scored ten points along with three steals, while Tory scored six points along with five rebounds. Bradford scored a full 37% of Golden Sierra's points, the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Golden Sierra struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Fortune Early College racked up 14 assists.
It was another big night for Zakiyyah Abdul - Azeem, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 11 rebounds for Fortune Early College. The matchup was Abdul - Azeem's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Khalia Tillis, who scored 12 points along with four steals.
Golden Sierra's defeat dropped their record down to 2-4. As for Fortune Early College, they pushed their record up to 4-1 with that victory, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Golden Sierra will square off against Union Mine at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Union Mine focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Tuesday. As for Fortune Early College, they will head out on the road to face off against Center at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
