The Castle View Sabercats are taking a road trip to challenge the Doherty Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Castle View fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Arapahoe on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 77-70 to the Warriors. While losing is never fun, the Sabercats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 94th, while the Warriors are ranked 13th).
Despite the loss, Castle View got top-tier performance from Evan Mckean, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and ten boards. That was a full 40% of Castle View's points, marking the ninth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Blake Graham was another key player, putting up 12 points.
Meanwhile, Doherty was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Saturday as they fell 62-58 to Palmer. While the Spartans didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Terrors 17-13 in the first quarter.
Castle View will have to contain Elijah Mack as he made an impact in Doherty's last game. He went 10 for 21 on his way to 32 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. Mack's evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddox Dee-Mortensen, who put up nine points and six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Doherty smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Palmer only pulled down seven offensive rebounds.
Doherty's defeat was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 2-7. As for Castle View, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Castle View has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31 boards per game. However, it's not like Doherty struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Castle View suffered a grim 73-47 defeat to Doherty when the teams last played back in December of 2023. Can Castle View avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
