Preview: Walsenburg Panthers vs. Las Animas Trojans
The Walsenburg Panthers will square off against the Las Animas Trojans at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Walsenburg was able to grind out a solid victory over Hoehne, taking the game 54-46. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Walsenburg.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Walsenburg to victory, but perhaps none more so than Elton Chavez, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 16 rebounds. Chavez is crushing the rebound category: he's posted at least nine every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabe Barela, who went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 22 points and 1 assist.
Meanwhile, Las Animas beat Center 44-33 on Wednesday. Las Animas pushed the score to 41-20 by the end of the third, a deficit Center cut but never quite recovered from.
Tj Ortiz continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. He is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down ten or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Brander Nichols, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Walsenburg has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. As for Las Animas, they now have a winning record of 10-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Walsenburg have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 33.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Las Animas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Walsenburg was able to grind out a solid win over Las Animas in their previous matchup on February 1st, winning 51-40. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Ortiz, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Walsenburg still be able to contain Ortiz? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
