Preview: Manzano Monarchs vs. Los Lunas Tigers
Manzano is 1-7 against Los Lunas since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Manzano Monarchs will be playing in front of their home fans against the Los Lunas Tigers at 2:00 p.m. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Manzano has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Los Lunas will arrive with five straight victories.
Manzano pushed their score all the way to 62 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Capital by a score of 64-62. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (55), Manzano still had to take the loss.
Despite the loss, Manzano got a solid performance out of Shane Erni, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 11 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Erni has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Estevan Gonzalez, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Los Lunas faced Albuquerque in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Los Lunas narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Albuquerque 46-43.
Manzano has not been sharp recently as the team's lost 12 of their last 13 matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-15 record this season. As for Los Lunas, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-7.
Manzano took a serious blow against Los Lunas when the teams last played back in January, falling 69-40. Will Manzano have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
