Basketball Game Preview: Hondo Owls vs. Lytle Pirates

The Hondo Owls will take on the Lytle Pirates at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Tuesday, everything came up roses for Hondo against Poteet as the team secured a 50-18 win. The Owls have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 18 games by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Lytle). They snuck past Cotulla with a 69-64 victory on Tuesday. The win almost wasn't to be: the Pirates were down 33-19 in the third quarter.

Hondo better keep an eye on Aliana Cardenas. She was instrumental in Lytle's win, dropping a double-double with 27 points and ten boards. Cardenas has become a key player for the Pirates: the team is 3-1 when she posts at least 15 points, but 5-18 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Loundyn Perez, who posted 13 points and seven steals.

Lytle smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 45 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Hondo has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 25-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points over those games. As for Lytle, their win bumped their record up to 8-19.

Hondo got the 'W' in their previous meeting on January 6th against Lytle by a conclusive 51-26 score. Will the Owls repeat their success, or do the Pirates have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.