The Rancho Mirage wrestling team started league action strong Wednesday night, pulling out a tough match over Yucca Valley 45-33.
The Rattlers won eight matches, seven of which came via pin coming from Monica Kezis (113 pounds), Kurt Tan (120), Marcus Lopez (132), Kyle Whitefield (170), Miguel Roman (182), Edward Palomo (220) and Travis O’Brien (285). Brandon Carrillo (152) won via major decision.
Rancho Mirage will hit the mats again this Friday and Saturday for the Rattler-Colton Christmas Classic.
Boys’ basketball
Palm Springs 60, Ganesha 45: The Indians cruised to a win that was even more of a blowout than it ended up, leading by 27 at one point. Damion Lee and Jon Scott led the team, both recording double-doubles with a combined 20 points and 25 rebounds.
The Indians hit the court next to play Xavier Prep.
Indio 61, Xavier Prep 38: Jeremiah Brown led the Rajahs (6-4, 1-0) to a league play-opening victory with 17 points, followed by 14 from Christian Briceno and a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds from Phillip Thigpen.
Palm Desert 51, La Quinta 38: Will Struthers led the Aztecs (5-4, 1-0) to a league play-opening win over rival La Quinta with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. Juan Santiago’s 11 points, all in the second half, helped keep the Blackhawks at bay.
Girls’ basketball
Shadow Hills 59, Cathedral City 55 (OT): After falling behind 14-4 in the fourth quarter, the Knights stormed back within one to start the fourth and pushed the game into overtime, where they outscored the Lions 12-8. Dominique Urbina led all scorers with 28 points, including keep layups and free throws to clinch the game in extra time.
Melissa Martinez followed with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds for Shadow Hills, while Natalia Johnson added 11. Sydni Tribble came through with 11 rebounds and two steals.
Shadow Hills (3-3, 1-0) plays next at La Quinta on Friday.
Palm Desert 60, La Quinta 51: Seline Schinke, with 23 points, led the Aztecs to a DVL-opening win over their rivals. Alexis Legan followed with 19 points, along with nine from Shawna Aguerrebere.
The Aztecs (4-6, 1-0) play next Dec. 27 against Yucca Valley at Shadow Hills High School.
Palm Springs 46, Desert Mirage 18: Anastasia Reagins’ all-around solid game of 17 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and four steals led the Indians to a blowout win. Kaleigh Vargas pitched in 13 points to go along with five assists and three steals.
The Indians (3-3) open up DVL action Friday at home against Xavier Prep.
Indio 43, Xavier Prep 5: Aariniki Muhammad led the Rajahs to a victory with eight points, along with seven each from Munny Rosales and Leslie Herrera. Indio will take the court next on Friday at home against rival Coachella Valley.
Boys’ soccer
La Quinta 3, Palm Desert 2: After the Blackhawks fell behind 2-0 16 minutes into the game, La Quinta recovered with two goals from Chris Avalos and Lucas Rosales, who provided the game-winner in the second half. Logan Prescott recorded six saves in goal for the Blackhawks (5-0-2, 1-0-0) who play next at Shadow Hills on Friday.
Josh Phillips and Jhonatan Urbina provided the goals for the Aztecs (1-4-2) who play next at home against Cathedral City on Friday.
Girls’ soccer
Xavier Prep 5, Indio 1: The Saints won their league opener with the help of four goals and one assist from Ayanna Suarez and a goal from Acacia Dabreiner. Xavier Prep plays next Friday at Palm Springs.
Palm Desert 0, La Quinta 0: Despite the energy and rivalry emotions on the field in Wednesday night’s DVL-opening match, the Aztecs and Blackhawks played to a tie. Both goalkeepers came up big to keep either team from a loss, with Palm Desert’s Alex Fabela (five saves) and La Quinta’s Belen Jimenez (three saves) seeing plenty of action.
The Aztecs play next on Friday at Cathedral City, while La Quinta hosts Shadow Hills, both games at 6 p.m.
Cathedral City 3, Shadow Hills 1: After falling behind 1-0 at halftime, the Lions came back with three goals in the second half from Dalaina Johnson, Davonna Shahar and Crystal Ramirez Lopez. Goalkeeper Natalia Castellon made four key saves in the first half to help keep the game from getting away from Cathedral City.
Desert Hot Springs 3, West Shores 0: Shaden Arceo led the Golden Eagles with two goals, while Stephanie Vargas connected on one in the shutout win.
Desert Hot Springs plays next on Friday against Big Bear.
The Rancho Mirage Rattlers were able to claim victory but fell in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section team division championship at Redondo Union High School Saturday.
