Pueblo West hasn't had much luck against Pueblo Central recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Pueblo West Cyclones will face off against the Pueblo Central Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Pueblo West will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Back in December of 2024, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Pueblo West beat Golden 49-43. The 49-point effort marked the Cyclones' lowest-scoring matchup of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
| 12/21/24 vs Golden | 14 |
| 12/20/24 @ Pueblo East | 10 |
| 12/19/24 vs Douglas County | 20 |
| 12/13/24 vs Pine Creek | 12 |
| 12/11/24 @ Dakota Ridge | 13 |
Pueblo West relied on the efforts of Andrew Trujillo, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Ezekiel Stump, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 15 points. Trujillo has been hot, having posted ten or more boards the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Marek Crowley, who posted eight points.
Meanwhile, Pueblo Central was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 52-48 heartbreaker at the hands of Mesa Ridge. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 129th, while the Grizzlies are ranked 18th).
Despite the defeat, Pueblo Central saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Jayden Jones put up 20 points. Another player making a difference was Ladamien Davis, who had seven points in addition to ten boards and three steals.
Pueblo Central's loss dropped their record down to 6-6. As for Pueblo West, the win got them back to even at 4-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pueblo West has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.2 boards per game. However, it's not like Pueblo Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Pueblo West skirted past Pueblo Central 62-60 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Pueblo Central's Xavier Davis, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be easier for Pueblo West to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
