Basketball Game Preview: Monte Vista Pirates vs. Del Norte Tigers

Monte Vista is 6-1 against Del Norte since November of 2018 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Monte Vista Pirates will be playing in front of their home fans against the Del Norte Tigers at 3:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Monte Vista has three straight wins, Del Norte has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Back in December of 2024, Monte Vista was able to grind out a solid victory over Hoehne, taking the game 61-52. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while the Farmers are ranked 214th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Azariah Hurtado continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, shooting 5-for-6 from long range and almost dropping a double-double on 24 points and nine boards. His afternoon made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Darrien Archuleta was another key player, putting up nine points.

Monte Vista was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Del Norte duked it out withIgnacio on Thursday. Del Norte came up short against Ignacio, falling 74-48.

Del Norte's defeat dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Monte Vista, their win bumped their record up to 4-2.

Monte Vista strolled past Del Norte when the teams last played back in February of 2024 by a score of 56-42. Will Monte Vista repeat their success, or does Del Norte have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.