Basketball Game Preview: Manzano Monarchs vs. Eldorado Golden Eagles

Manzano is 1-9 against Eldorado since January of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Manzano Monarchs will challenge the Eldorado Golden Eagles at 5:30 p.m.

Manzano is headed into Tuesday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their eighth straight game on Thursday. They had to suffer through a 72-42 loss at the hands of La Cueva. While losing is never fun, the Monarchs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 68th, while the Bears are ranked ninth).

Manzano's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Zaria Gomez, who went 7-for-13 to rack up 21 points and three steals, and Daira Solis, who posted 15 points. That was a full 50% of Manzano's points, marking the third time in a row Gomez has scored more than a third of the team's points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Eldorado). They enjoyed a cozy 73-59 win over Capital on Thursday. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Golden Eagles considering their 24-point performance the game before.

Manzano's loss dropped their record down to 10-15. As for Eldorado, their victory bumped their record up to 12-14.

Manzano suffered a grim 65-45 defeat to Eldorado when the teams last played on February 8th. Can Manzano avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.