Preview: Hanna Golden Eagles vs. La Joya Coyotes
The Hanna Golden Eagles will look to defend their home court on Monday against the La Joya Coyotes at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Tuesday, Hanna came up short against Harlingen and fell 71-61. While losing is never fun, Hanna can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 494th, while Harlingen is ranked 185th).
Despite their defeat, Hanna saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Beto Galarza, who scored 21 points along with four steals, was perhaps the best of all. That was a full 34.4% of Hanna's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Jordan Matamoros was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, La Joya entered their tilt with Pharr-San Juan-Alamo with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. La Joya took their contest on the road on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 78-41 win over Pharr-San Juan-Alamo. With La Joya ahead 41-15 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Daniel Trevino and Leo Villarreal were among the main playmakers for La Joya as the former scored 18 points along with six assists and two steals and the latter dropped a double-double on 21 points and 11 rebounds. Villarreal hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for six straight games. Another player making a difference was Hunter Morales, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds.
Hanna's loss dropped their record down to 24-13. As for La Joya, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 24-14 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Hanna have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 22.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like La Joya struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Hanna skirted past La Joya 53-50 when the teams last played back in February of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was La Joya's Ethan Moya, who scored 23 points along with seven rebounds and three blocks. Now that he won't be playing on Monday, will it be that much easier for Hanna to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
