Basketball Game Preview: Fowler Grizzlies vs. McClave Cardinals

The Fowler Grizzlies will challenge the McClave Cardinals at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Fowler is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Walsenburg: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Fowler blew Walsenburg out of the water with a 56-21 final score. With the Grizzlies ahead 34-5 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

Isaiah Montoya

Steals (Career)

01/31/25 @ Walsenburg	3
01/24/25 vs Hoehne	2
12/20/24 vs Center	2
12/19/24 @ Dolores Huerta Prep	2
12/13/24 vs Vail Mountain	2

Fowler had a senior duo take command as Isaiah Montoya went 7 of 14 to rack up 18 points and three steals and Cael True almost dropped a double-double on 12 points and nine rebounds. Those three steals gave Montoya a new career-high. Bruley McCuistion was another key player, putting up six points.

Fowler was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Walsenburg only posted four assists.

Meanwhile, McClave entered their tilt with Cheraw on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Wolverines 54-27. The Cardinals have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine games by 27 points or more this season.

McClave's win came from a few key players Fowler will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tuff Kelley, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten boards. He has been hot for a while, having posted nine or more rebounds the last 11 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Mason Barr, who posted ten points and five assists.

Fowler is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy: their three-point shooting accuracy was 35.1% in those games and 24.8% outside of them. As for McClave, their victory bumped their record up to 13-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Fowler has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.2 boards per game. However, it's not like McClave struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.