Basketball Game Preview: Gallup Bengals vs. Kirtland Central Broncos

The Gallup Bengals will take on the Kirtland Central Broncos at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Gallup knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 17 games -- so hopefully Kirtland Central likes a good challenge.

Gallup is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest on Thursday with ease, bagging a 91-17 victory over Miyamura. Given the Bengals' advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked fourth, while the Patriots are ranked 112th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Kirtland Central had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 38 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Chieftains 56-19. The Broncos have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Kirtland Central's record now sits at 15-2. As for Gallup, their win was their 20th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 17-0.

Things could have been worse for Gallup, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 61-47 loss to Kirtland Central in their previous matchup back in March of 2024. Can Gallup avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.