Preview: Desert Pines Jaguars vs. Liberty Patriots
After two games on the road, Desert Pines is heading back home. They will take on the Liberty Patriots at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Desert Pines' favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five matchups.
Last Tuesday, Desert Pines narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Durango 57-54.
Meanwhile, Liberty entered their tilt with Las Vegas with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Liberty came out on top against Las Vegas by a score of 75-64 on Tuesday. Given Liberty's advantage in MaxPreps' Nevada basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while Las Vegas is ranked 32nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Liberty got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Jace Aquiningoc out in front who scored 15 points along with two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Aquiningoc has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaeden Castillero, who scored 14 points along with two steals.
Desert Pines' win bumped their record up to 7-12. As for Liberty, they are on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-2 record this season.
Desert Pines ended up a good deal behind Liberty when the teams last played back in February of 2023, losing 70-51. Can Desert Pines avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
