Basketball Preview: Highland Hornets vs. St. Pius X Sartans
Highland is 8-2 against the Sartans since April of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Highland Hornets will head out on the road to square off against the St. Pius X Sartans at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Highland's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five games.
You can't lose the matchup if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Highland's strategy against the Jaguars on Friday. Highland took down the Jaguars 61-44. Given Highland's advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked seventh, while the Jaguars are ranked 48th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Highland got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Jesus Licon out in front who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Licon is crushing the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Raul Stanford, who scored 12 points along with seven assists and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, St. Pius X had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 60-34 margin over Valencia.
Highland has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season. As for St. Pius X, their victory bumped their record up to 11-8.
Highland didn't have too much breathing room in their game against the Sartans in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 75-69 win. Does Highland have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Sartans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
