Preview: Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North Raiders vs. Vela Sabercats
The Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North Raiders will be playing at home against the Vela Sabercats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North can finally bid farewell to their four-game losing streak thanks to their game on Friday. They pulled ahead with a 50-49 photo finish over Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North to victory, but perhaps none more so than Mason Lopez, who scored 18 points along with five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Bryan Guerrero, who scored eight points along with five steals.
Meanwhile, Vela put the finishing touches on their 13th blowout victory of the season last Tuesday. They blew past Sharyland 76-49 at home. The victory was nothing new for Vela as they're now sitting on ten straight.
Vela's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Axel Garza, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds and three blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Jp Olivarez, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North's win bumped their record up to 9-15. As for Vela, they are on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 23-5 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 23.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Vela struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North was dealt a bruising 83-43 loss at the hands of Vela when the teams last played back in December of 2023. The contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North was down 41-21.
