Basketball Game Preview: Valencia Jaguars vs. St. Pius X Sartans

Valencia is 2-8 against St. Pius X since April of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Valencia Jaguars will take on the St. Pius X Sartans at 7:00 p.m. Valencia is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.3 points per game this season.

Last Tuesday, Valencia didn't have too much trouble with Grants as they won 54-37. Given the Jaguars' advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 12th, while the Pirates are ranked 74th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Valencia's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jadyn Montoya led the charge by dropping a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards. The dominant performance gave Montoya a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jaiden Montgomery, who almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine boards.

Meanwhile, St. Pius X waltzed into their matchup on Friday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They walked away with a 51-40 victory over the Pirates.

St. Pius X is also on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Valencia, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 13-5.

Valencia came up short against St. Pius X in their previous meeting back in March of 2024, falling 49-44. Can Valencia avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.