Basketball Recap: Blake Nuss Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Palisade

Ponderosa's tournament run continued when they took on Palisade on Saturday. The Ponderosa Mustangs took down the Palisade Bulldogs 53-36.

Ponderosa got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Blake Nuss out in front who posted 21 points. The dominant performance also gave Nuss a new career-high in assists (three). Another player making a difference was Ryan Tongren, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine boards.

Palisade's loss came despite strong showings from Hunter Howard and LJ Ballenger. Howard had 11 points and three steals, while Ballenger earned 12 points.

Ponderosa is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 4-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.0 points per game. As for Palisade, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-4.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. After both having extra time off, Ponderosa and Pueblo County will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 7:30 p.m. on January 6, 2025. Ponderosa is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52 points per game this season. As for Palisade, they will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Delta at 7:30 p.m. on January 7, 2025. Palisade is facing Delta at the right time seeing as Delta is stuck on a five-game losing streak.