Basketball Game Preview: Highland Hornets vs. Valencia Jaguars

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Previous Games

02/20/24 - Home	67-53 W
02/02/24 - Away	61-44 W
02/14/23 - Away	85-84 W
01/27/23 - Home	77-69 W
02/18/22 - Away	50-35 W
+ 3 more games

Highland is 8-0 against Valencia since April of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Highland Hornets will be playing in front of their home fans against the Valencia Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. The timing is sure in Highland's favor as the team sits on three straight wins at home while Valencia has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.

On Tuesday, Highland was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 61-57 to Grants.

Despite the defeat, Highland had strong showings from Jerry Moody, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 17 boards, and Jesus Licon, who went 5 of 11 en route to 15 points in addition to eight rebounds and seven assists. Moody continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Owen Cheng, who posted 11 points and five boards.

Meanwhile, Valencia had to suffer through a 75-44 loss at the hands of St. Pius X. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 64th, while the Sartans are ranked 12th).

Valencia's loss dropped their record down to 8-11. As for Highland, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-11.

Highland strolled past Valencia in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 by a score of 67-53. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Valencia's Jared Porter, who put up 24 points. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Highland still be able to contain Porter? There's only one way to find out.