The Lone Star Longhorns will take on the Arickaree Bison at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Lone Star will be strutting in after a victory while Arickaree will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Friday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Lone Star beat Weldon Valley 46-40. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Longhorns.
Grant Kuntz was his usual excellent self, almost dropping a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Lone Star's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jesus Hermosillo, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 11 boards.
Lone Star smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in six consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Arickaree didn't have quite enough to beat Denver Waldorf on Saturday and fell 51-48.
Lone Star will need focus on slowing down Zarron Skubal, one of several Arickaree players who made an impact when they last played. He went 8 of 10 en route to 16 points and five rebounds. The dominant performance gave Skubal a new career-high in points. Dillon Noletubby was another key player, putting up 15 points along with five boards and four steals.
Lone Star has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season. As for Arickaree, their loss dropped their record down to 7-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lone Star has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 35.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Arickaree struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Lone Star came out on top in a nail-biter against Arickaree in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, sneaking past 63-61. Does Lone Star have another victory up their sleeve, or will Arickaree turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
