The La Mirada Matadores Boys varsity basketball squad began the 2022-23 season with a very busy week, playing five games in six days.
The 5th annual Rumble for Rosecrans, hosted by Sunny Hills High School features 32 different high school programs from around Southern California competing in four brackets. La Mirada competed in the West Region Bracket D. All games in this bracket were played at Fullerton High.
On Monday, La Mirada beat Huntington Beach 61-48. Sophomore guard Juliene Gomez led the Mats in scoring with 21 points; also contributing 10 rebounds and four assists. Senior Athan Sierra tossed in nine points.
Tuesday brought defense as the rule as La Mirada won over Aquinas 36-30. The team was led by Gomez with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Anegi Castillo added eight and seven respectively.
The Matadores suffered their first loss of the season falling to Canyon on Wednesday, 58-49. Sierra put in 14 points for the Mats with senior guard Sean Cervantes contributing 13 points and six assists. Junior Isiah Valenzuela also had nine points for La Mirada.
Yesterday, Juliene Gomez exploded for 44 points and nine rebounds as La Mirada, the fourth seed in the region recorded a bounce-back win over the three-seed, St. Anthony 76-68. Sean Cervantes put in 12 points and dished out eight assists. Athan Sierra recorded a hat trick with three, three-point shots for nine points and junior Michael Torres scored eight.
Earlier today, the Mats participated in the 5th place game against Damien falling 51-50. Juliene Gomez continued with the hot hand scoring 18 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Sean Cervantes bucketed nine and served six assists.
The next game for the Matadores (3-2) is scheduled for Tuesday, November 22nd when they go against Lakewood at Marina High School in the Feast Week Tournament. Game time is 6:00 p.m.
