Basketball Recap: Ozona Falls Despite Big Games from Hudson Fowler and Christain Villarreal

It was a proper cat-fight when Ozona faced off against Christoval on Tuesday. The Ozona Lions fell to the Christoval Cougars 46-42. Sadly, that's the second time they've come up short against the Lions this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 82-43 back in December of 2024.

Ozona's loss came despite strong showings from Christain Villarreal and Hudson Fowler. Villarreal dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds, while Fowler dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 boards. Fowler is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down nine or more in the last nine games he's played. Another player making a difference was Nolan Martinez, who posted four points.

Christoval was led to victory by Ethan Busch and Bruce Cooper. Busch dropped a double-double on 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Cooper dropped a double-double on 14 points and 14 boards. With that strong performance, Busch is now averaging an impressive 8.4 rebounds per game. Hayden Jost also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

Ozona has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-9 record this season. As for Christoval, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-10.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Ozona will host Sonora at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Sonora is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.3 points per game this season. Christoval has already played their next contest (against Sterling City), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.