Basketball Game Preview: Springfield Longhorns vs. Cotopaxi Pirates

The Springfield Longhorns will face off against the Cotopaxi Pirates at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Springfield is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Cheraw: they outscored them in every quarter. Springfield put the hurt on Cheraw with a sharp 64-44 victory on Tuesday.

Colby Batterton

Steals

02/18/25 vs Cheraw	11
02/11/25 vs Stanton County	4
02/08/25 vs Flagler	8
02/07/25 vs Walsh	5
02/04/25 vs South Baca [Campo/Vilas/Pritchett]	6
+ 11 more games

Colby Batterton was his usual excellent self, shooting 7-for-12 from downtown and dropping a double-double with 27 points and 11 steals. Batterton is crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least three every time he's taken the court this season. Rhett Bray was another key player, going 5-for-9 en route to 11 points in addition to eight rebounds and three blocks.

Springfield was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January of 2024.

Meanwhile, Cotopaxi waltzed into their contest on Wednesday with seven straight wins... but they left with eight. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Bobcats 50-48.

Cotopaxi's win came from a few key players Springfield will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Joel Tezak, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and 15 boards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Terrance Evans, who dropped a double-double with 18 points and 12 boards.

Cotopaxi's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-3. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 29.2 points. As for Springfield, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-10 record this season.

Springfield came up short against Cotopaxi when the teams last played back in January of 2023, falling 59-47. Can Springfield avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.