Basketball Recap: Jacob Villalobos Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Bel Air

There's no place like home for El Dorado, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They had just enough and edged the Bel Air Highlanders out 56-53. That's the second time they've managed to beat them this season, as they also won 57-29 back in December of 2024.

El Dorado got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Jacob Villalobos out in front who went 6 for 13 en route to 16 points. Ethan Lopez also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

When it comes to explaining why Bel Air lost on Tuesday, don't look at Marcos Garcia. Despite the final result, he went 5 of 8 on his way to 17 points. That's the most points Garcia has posted since back in November of 2023. Matt Hernandez was another key player, putting up 15 points.

Aztecs

Previous 4 Games (Home)

01/21/25 vs Bel Air	56-53
01/07/25 vs Hanks	66-53
12/20/24 vs Horizon	63-30
12/10/24 vs Burges	62-50

El Dorado's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-13. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy: their three-point shooting accuracy was 34.6% in those games and 29.7% outside of them. As for Bel Air, they have been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last ten contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 12-14 record this season.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. El Dorado will challenge Horizon at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. El Dorado is facing Horizon at the right time seeing as Horizon is stuck on a seven-game losing streak. As for Bel Air, they will take on Americas at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Americas has five straight victories, Bel Air has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.