On Friday, the Twentynine Palms boys’ varsity and junior varsity basketball teams hosted the Banning Broncos in a Desert Valley League matchup. The Wildcats split the pair with the Broncos, with varsity losing its first league game of the season 68-57. Junior varsity won, 47-40.
Varsity came out sluggish and was never able to get things going. The visiting Broncos came out fired up and ready to challenge the DVL-leading Wildcats. The home team failed to match that intensity, which led to turnovers and mental mistakes that were ultimately too much to overcome against the long and athletic Broncos.
The Wildcats were led by Kamron Luna with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Saiz Aguilar with 11 points and four assists. The loss drops the Wildcats to 9-9 overall, and 5-1 in a first place tie with Indio and Cathedral City atop the DVL standings. Junior varsity won a tough game 47-40, led by freshman Ray Thorton with 10 points and four assists, and Q Hibler, Jaylen Sewell, Johnnie Aguirre, PJ Horn, and Micah Deibert scoring six points a piece.
