Basketball Recap: Pioneer Picks Up Eighth Consecutive Victory

Pioneer waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with seven straight wins... but they left with eight. They came out on top against the Vela Sabercats by a score of 52-40. This was a revenge game for the Diamondbacks: when they faced off against the Sabercats back in December of 2024, they had to take a 48-40 loss.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pioneer to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kassandra Garcia, who posted 12 points in addition to seven assists and six steals. Garcia has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 24 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Anika Fleischmann, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 11 boards.

Garcia wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Pioneer was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Vela only racked up six assists.

Vela's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Gg Betancourt, who had 15 points. Another player making a difference was Aurora Guzman, who put up ten points.

Pioneer is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a massive bump to their 19-9 record this season. As for Vela, their record now sits at 19-8.

Coincidentally, the two teams will both be playing Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial the next time they take the court. Pioneer will host Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, while Vela will head out to face them at 6:00 p.m. on January 14th.