Basketball Game Preview: Lovington Wildcats vs. Hope Christian Huskies

The Lovington Wildcats will square off against the Hope Christian Huskies at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Lovington is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.6 points per game this season.

Lovington is headed into the match having just suffered their closest loss since March 8, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Portales by a score of 45-42. The Wildcats have struggled against the Rams recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meetings.

Malaiya Castro

Three Point Percentage (Career)

02/28/25 @ Portales	67%
01/24/25 @ Chaparral	63%
01/07/25 vs Gadsden	50%
12/05/24 @ Spearman	50%
12/13/24 vs Denver City	44%

Lovington might have lost, but man, Malaiya Castro was a machine: she went 5-for-8 en route to 20 points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Castro a new career-high in three-point shooting accuracy (67%). Abigail Shouse was another key player, putting up four points in addition to ten boards and four blocks.

Even though they lost, Lovington was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. This was only their sixth loss (out of 21 games) when they've passed the ball that well.

Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Hope Christian's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They fell to Albuquerque Academy 57-52.

Lovington will have to contain Mia Bishop as she made an impact in Hope Christian's last game. She dropped a double-double with 22 points and ten rebounds. Hope Christian is 12-5 when Bishop posts eight or more boards, but 5-6 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Louisa Landavazo, who posted four points along with seven assists and four steals.

Lovington's defeat dropped their record down to 16-12. As for Hope Christian, their loss dropped their record down to 17-11.

Lovington couldn't quite finish off Hope Christian in their previous meeting back in March of 2023 and fell 47-44. Can Lovington avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.