Basketball Game Preview: Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North Raiders vs. Vela Sabercats

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North and Vela are an even 5-5 against one another since November of 2019, but not for long. The Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North Raiders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Vela Sabercats at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Pioneer just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a 48-35 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Diamondbacks.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Vela). They claimed a resounding 91-11 victory over Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial. The Sabercats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten contests by 21 points or more this season.

Vela's win came from a few key players Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Gg Betancourt, who went 5 of 12 on her way to 12 points along with six steals and five assists. She has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Savanah Rivera, who posted ten points and three steals.

The win was the ninth in a row for Vela, bringing their record for this year to 15-5. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.2 points per game. As for Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North, their defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 16-7.

Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Vela in their previous matchup back in November, but they still walked away with a 41-37 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Vela's Ava Tovar, who almost dropped a double-double on ten points and nine steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North still be able to contain Tovar? There's only one way to find out.