The Pinnacle Pioneers struggled with assists on Friday (the Sunnyslope Vikings had ten more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Pinnacle took a 62-52 hit to the loss column at the hands of Sunnyslope. It was the first time this season that Pinnacle let down their fans at home.
Pinnacle lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Saleem Gakiza, who scored 18 points along with six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Gakiza has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Jameson Vick, who scored 13 points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sunnyslope to victory, but perhaps none more so than Darius Wabbington, who scored 19 points along with five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of John Mattingly, who scored 15 points.
Pinnacle has been struggling recently, as they've lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-8 record this season. As for Sunnyslope, the victory (which was their sixth in a row) raised their record to 12-4.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Pinnacle will face off against O'Connor at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Arizona (O'Connor is ranked 11th, while Pinnacle is ranked 34th). Sunnyslope will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against Liberty at 7:00 p.m. on January 16th. One thing working in Liberty's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last three matchups.
