The Chico Panthers and the Pleasant Valley Vikings squared off in some playoff action on Saturday, but sadly the Chico Panthers had to settle for second. They had to suffer through a rough 77-50 loss at the hands of the Vikings. While losing is never fun, Chico can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 101st, while Pleasant Valley is ranked 33rd).
When it comes to explaining why Chico lost, one person who can't be blamed is Rayen Letner. Despite the final result, she scored 26 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Letner has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Corrina Stephens, who scored six points along with 13 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Chico smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pleasant Valley only pulled down seven offensive rebounds.
It was another big night for Aj Gambol, who scored 31 points along with five rebounds and two steals for Pleasant Valley. That makes it three consecutive games in which Gambol has scored at least a third of Pleasant Valley's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddux Wilson, who scored 19 points.
Chico's defeat dropped their record down to 21-9. As for Pleasant Valley, the victory was the eighth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 23-7.
Chico will head out on the road to take on Branham at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Chico focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 19 on Saturday. As for Pleasant Valley, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Vista del Lago at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Pleasant Valley is on a nine-game streak of home wins, Vista del Lago a five-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
