Basketball Game Preview: Fort Hancock Mustangs vs. Jesus Chapel Chargers

Fort Hancock has gone 8-2 against Jesus Chapel recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Fort Hancock Mustangs will be taking part in a tournament against the Jesus Chapel Chargers at 11:30 a.m. Fort Hancock is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 59.4 points per game this season.

Fort Hancock will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Tornillo, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Fort Hancock escaped with a win on Tuesday against Tornillo by the margin of a single free throw, 48-47. While the Mustangs didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Patrick Hernandez was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 15 points and 11 boards. That's the most boards he has posted since back in December of 2023. Another player making a difference was Max Apodaca, who went 6 of 10 on his way to 12 points and three blocks.

Meanwhile, Jesus Chapel played a tough game last Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were outmatched by Fort Hancock and fell 57-30. The Chargers were down 49-19 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Fort Hancock is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. As for Jesus Chapel, their loss dropped their record down to 3-2.

Everything came up roses for Fort Hancock against Jesus Chapel in their previous matchup last Tuesday, as the squad secured a 57-30 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Fort Hancock since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.