Alamosa and Pagosa Springs are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2020, but not for long. The Alamosa Mean Moose will venture away from home to take on the Pagosa Springs Pirates at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Alamosa is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Montezuma-Cortez to the tune of 64-35 on Saturday. Given the Mean Moose's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 68th, while the Panthers are ranked 235th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Aubrey Rothermich and Morgan Ortega were among the main playmakers for Alamosa as the former went 7 for 12 on her way to 16 points and four steals and the latter went 6 of 10 en route to 17 points and eight assists. Jaelin Garcia was another key player, putting up nine points and five boards.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Pagosa Springs on Saturday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Ignacio out of the water with a 51-22 final score. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Pirates have posted against the Bobcats since February 15, 2019.
Pagosa Springs' win came from a few key players Alamosa will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Karsyn Shahan, who posted ten points along with seven rebounds and five assists. That's the most assists she has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaila Limebrook, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten boards.
The win made it two in a row for Pagosa Springs and bumps their season record up to 7-4. As for Alamosa, their victory bumped their record up to 8-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Alamosa has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 29.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Pagosa Springs struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Alamosa suffered a grim 54-32 defeat to Pagosa Springs when the teams last played back in February of 2024. Can Alamosa avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
