Basketball Game Preview: La Junta Tigers vs. Banning Lewis Academy Stallions

La Junta is 0-4 against Banning Lewis Academy since February of 2021 but things could change on Thursday. The La Junta Tigers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Banning Lewis Academy Stallions at 7:30 p.m. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.

La Junta is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their game on Friday with ease, bagging a 71-37 victory over James Irwin. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Tigers had established a 27 point advantage.

DJ Brown

Points (Career)

02/07/25 @ James Irwin	16
12/21/24 vs Salida	12
12/06/24 vs Swink	11
01/28/25 @ St. Mary's	8
12/20/24 vs Buena Vista	7

La Junta can attribute much of their success to DJ Brown, who posted 16 points. Those 16 points gave Brown a new career-high. Alfred Furtado was another key player, putting up 13 points.

Meanwhile, Banning Lewis Academy had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.6 points) and they went ahead and made it eight on Tuesday. They took their contest with ease, bagging an 86-48 win over the Highlanders. The Stallions have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 28 points or more this season.

La Junta's victory ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-11. As for Banning Lewis Academy, they pushed their record up to 12-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.

La Junta suffered a grim 60-34 defeat to Banning Lewis Academy in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Banning Lewis Academy's Trey Oden, who shot 4-for-7 from downtown and dropped a double-double with 18 points and ten rebounds. Now that La Junta knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.