Basketball Preview: Roma Gladiators vs. Palmview Lobos
Roma has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Palmview Lobos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Roma will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Texas Rankings (they are ranked 652nd, while the Lobos are ranked 226th).
Roma's game on Tuesday was all tied up 13-13 at the half, but sadly for them it didn't stay that way. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 27-26 to Martin. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Roma in their matchups with the Tigers: they've now lost five in a row.
Meanwhile, Palmview stacked a 17th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They blew past Juarez-Lincoln 87-13 on the road. Palmview's offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Palmview got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Mia Rojas out in front who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 11 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Nicole Flores, who scored 22 points along with two steals.
Roma has been struggling recently as they've lost seven of their last nine matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 23-12 record this season. As for Palmview, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 28-6.
Roma was dealt a bruising 61-32 defeat at the hands of the Lobos in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rojas, who shot 5-for-8 from long range and dropped a double-double on 30 points and ten rebounds. Now that Roma knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
