Basketball Game Preview: North Park Wildcats vs. Dolores Bears

The North Park Wildcats and the Dolores Bears will face off at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

North Park saw some tournament action on Friday. They took a hard 41-27 fall against Dove Creek. The Wildcats have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Despite the loss, North Park had strong showings from Chris Reyes, who posted ten points, and Aiden Pittington, who put up six points.

Meanwhile, Dolores was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They received a blow as they fell 64-46 to De Beque.

North Park will have to contain Michael Rantz as he made an impact in Dolores' last game. He went 9 of 18 on his way to 23 points and four steals. That was a full 50% of Dolores' points, marking the third time in a row he's had more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Koby McClellan, who posted 14 points.

North Park now has a losing record at 1-2. As for Dolores, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: North Park has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 21 boards per game. However, it's not like Dolores struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

North Park came up short against Dolores in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 52-45. Can North Park avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.