Basketball Game Preview: Chinle Wildcats vs. Page Sand Devils

Chinle and Page are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2020, but not for long. The Chinle Wildcats are taking a road trip to square off against the Page Sand Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

On Saturday, Chinle beat Window Rock 61-52.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Page). They blew past Ganado 73-33 two weeks ago. The win was nothing new for the Sand Devils as they're now sitting on three straight.

Chinle better focus on containing Joseph Benally and Tyree Stingley as the pair were huge in Page's win. Benally dropped a double-double on 25 points and 12 steals, while Stingley dropped a triple-double on 20 points, ten boards, and ten steals. The game was Stingley's third in a row with at least ten points. Maximus Reid was another key player, going 5 of 9 on his way to 14 points and eight assists.

Page smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in three consecutive contests.

Chinle is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.0 points per game. As for Page, their victory bumped their record up to 10-5.

Chinle skirted past Page 70-67 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. Will Chinle repeat their success, or does Page have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.