Basketball Game Preview: Cimarron Bluejays vs. Macksville Mustangs

The Cimarron Bluejays will challenge the Macksville Mustangs at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Cimarron is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak.

Last Friday, Cimarron took a blow against Goodland, falling 64-34. While losing is never fun, the Bluejays can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 231st, while the Cowboys are ranked eighth).

Meanwhile, on FridayEllinwood kept up with Macksville until halftime, but afterwards: not so much. Macksville blew past Ellinwood 69-40. The Mustangs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matchups by 28 points or more this season.

Cimarron better keep an eye on Diego Esparza. He was instrumental in Macksville's win, almost dropping a double-double on 29 points and nine rebounds. The contest was Esparza's 18th in a row with at least ten points. Kendall Grippin was another key player, going 5 for 8 en route to 14 points and eight boards.

Macksville smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in three consecutive games.

Macksville pushed their record up to 8-2 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.9 points per game. As for Cimarron, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.

Cimarron couldn't quite finish off Macksville in their previous meeting back in January of 2024 and fell 53-50. Can Cimarron avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.