Preview: Pueblo West Cyclones vs. Pueblo South Colts
Pueblo West is 8-2 against Pueblo South since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Pueblo West Cyclones will head out on the road to challenge the Pueblo South Colts at 6:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pueblo West has three straight wins, Pueblo South has seven straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
In what's become a running theme this season, Pueblo West gave their fans yet another huge win on Monday. They really took it to Pueblo Centennial for the full four quarters, racking up a 57-28 win on the road. Given Pueblo West's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 50th, while Pueblo Centennial is ranked 256th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Makenna McGraw and Trynity Martin were among the main playmakers for Pueblo West as the former scored nine points along with six rebounds and four steals and the latter scored 15 points along with two steals. Martin has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. Jamie Suazo was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with two steals and two blocks.
Pueblo South suffered their biggest loss since December 9, 2023 on Monday. They were dealt a 45-9 loss at the hands of Pueblo County. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Pueblo South in their matchups with Pueblo County: they've now lost four in a row.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pueblo South struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only an offensive rebound. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Pueblo County pulled down 16 offensive rebounds.
Pueblo West pushed their record up to 10-5 with that win, which was their third straight on the road. They've been dominating during the games in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 45.67 points. As for Pueblo South, their loss dropped their record down to 2-12.
Thursday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy contest: Pueblo West have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.6 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Pueblo South, though, as they've been averaging only 14.7 rebounds per game. Given Pueblo West's sizeable advantage in that area, Pueblo South will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything went Pueblo West's way against Pueblo South when the teams last played back in February of 2023 as Pueblo West made off with a 51-29 win. Will Pueblo West repeat their success, or does Pueblo South have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
