Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs Christian are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2017, but not for long. The Manitou Springs Mustangs will host the Colorado Springs Christian Lions at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a four-game winning streak alive.
Last Saturday, Manitou Springs earned a 58-50 victory over La Junta. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 133rd, while the Tigers are ranked 268th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Manitou Springs' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ashur Lavigne, who posted 20 points. Another player making a difference was Thomas Reed, who earned 15 points.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Colorado Springs Christian). They really took it to Florence for the full four quarters, racking up a 70-25 victory. With the Lions ahead 43-15 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Manitou Springs better focus on containing Maximiliano Cota-Cordova and Jace Velasquez as the pair were huge in Colorado Springs Christian's win. Cota-Cordova went 9 of 14 en route to 19 points in addition to seven rebounds and five steals, while Velasquez went 6 for 7 on his way to 16 points and six boards. The game was Cota-Cordova's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Sam Salsbery was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on nine points and ten boards.
Manitou Springs pushed their record up to 10-4 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.8 points per game. As for Colorado Springs Christian, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-6 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs Christian are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Manitou Springs hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 55.7 points per game. However, it's not like Colorado Springs Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 56.8 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Manitou Springs beat Colorado Springs Christian 54-46 when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Will Manitou Springs repeat their success, or does Colorado Springs Christian have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
