Preview: Buena Colts vs. Palo Verde Titans
Having just played yesterday, the Buena Colts will jump right back in to play the Palo Verde Titans at 12:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Thursday, Buena was able to grind out a solid victory over Skyline, taking the game 54-47. Given Buena's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 111th, while Skyline is ranked 270th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jamin Booker was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Those ten rebounds set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Jesus Pacheco, who scored eight points along with eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, even though Bisbee scored an imposing 56 points on Thursday, Palo Verde still came out on top. Palo Verde enjoyed a cozy 71-56 win over Bisbee.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Palo Verde to victory, but perhaps none more so than Daniel Ortiz, who dropped a double-double on 27 points and 13 rebounds. That makes it five consecutive games in which Ortiz has scored at least 25% of Palo Verde's points. Another player making a difference was Julian Blackburne, who scored 19 points along with five rebounds.
Buena is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. As for Palo Verde, their victory bumped their record up to 10-2.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Buena hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 60.9 points per game. However, it's not like Palo Verde struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 64.1 points per game. The only thing between Buena and another offensive beatdown is Palo Verde. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Buena strolled past Palo Verde in their previous meeting back in November of 2017 by a score of 74-57. The rematch might be a little tougher for Buena since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
