Ouray and Nucla are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The Ouray Trojans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Nucla Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
While Ouray didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-11), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top against Telluride by a score of 53-44 on Friday. That's two games straight that the Trojans have won by exactly nine points.
| 01/06/24 vs Nucla | 20 |
| 01/10/25 vs Telluride | 19 |
| 12/13/24 vs Hayden | 18 |
| 02/09/24 vs Mancos | 18 |
| 12/19/23 @ Caprock Academy | 17 |
Cavan Pasek continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 19 boards. That's the most rebounds he has posted since back in January of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Jeep Demuth, who posted eight points and five steals.
Meanwhile, Nucla hadn't done well against Mancos recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. Nucla put the hurt on Mancos with a sharp 58-32 victory. The Mustangs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 20 points or more this season.
Ouray better focus on containing Brycen Rummel and Slade Gillen as the pair were huge in Nucla's win. Rummel dropped a double-double on 13 points and 17 boards, while Gillen dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 boards. Rummel is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 27 games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Austin Garvey, who had nine points and six rebounds.
Nucla smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in five consecutive matches.
Nucla pushed their record up to 8-3 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.8 points per game. As for Ouray, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Ouray has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Nucla struggles in that department as they've been averaging 38.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Ouray was taken down by Nucla 64-35 in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rummel, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 14 boards. Now that Ouray knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
