Preview: Kent Denver Sun Devils vs. Eaton Reds
Kent Denver has played every game this season on their home court, but they'll have to hit the road on Saturday. They will challenge the Eaton Reds at 2:00 p.m. Kent Denver knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three games -- so hopefully Eaton likes a good challenge.
Kent Denver pushed their score all the way to 62 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. Their rough 85-62 loss to Smoky Hill might stick with them for a while. Kent Denver found out winning isn't easy when you don't work as a unit and rack up nine fewer assists than your opponent.
Despite the loss, Kent Denver got a solid performance out of Caleb Fay, who scored 24 points along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals. The matchup was Fay's third in a row with at least ten points. Zach Morgan was another key contributor, scoring 8 points.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought game, but Eaton had to settle for a 52-49 loss against Holy Family on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Eaton can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 84th, while Holy Family is ranked 11th).
Eaton's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Lucas Stone, who scored 19 points, and Mitch Haythorn who scored 15 points along with 5 rebounds. Haythorn scored a full 30.6% of Eaton's points, the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ely Madaleno, who scored 8 points.
Kent Denver's victory lifted them to 2-1 while Smoky Hill's defeat dropped them down to 2-2.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Kent Denver hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 77.7 points per game. It's a different story for Eaton, though, as they've been averaging only 53.5 per game. The only thing between Kent Denver and another offensive beatdown is Eaton. Will they be able to keep them contained? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
Kent Denver came up short against Eaton in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, falling 99-93. Thankfully for Kent Denver, Zac Grable (who dropped a double-double on 29 points and 11 assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
