Preview: Pueblo West Cyclones vs. Pueblo Central Wildcats
The Pueblo West Cyclones and the Pueblo Central Wildcats will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Pueblo West entered their tilt with Evergreen with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Pueblo West rang in the new year with a 60-50 victory over Evergreen on Saturday. Given Pueblo West's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 101st, while Evergreen is ranked 240th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Pueblo West found their leader in underclassman Malachi Stump, who scored 21 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Stump is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last eight games he's played. Another player making a difference was Marek Crowley, who scored 15 points along with four steals and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Pueblo Central earned a 56-47 victory over Fountain-Fort Carson on Saturday.
Pueblo Central's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Luke Beltran, who scored 14 points along with two steals. Beltran is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last four games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Xavier Davis, who scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and two steals.
Pueblo West is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a massive bump to their 8-4 record this season. As for Pueblo Central, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.
Pueblo West came up short against Pueblo Central when the teams last played back in February of 2023, falling 54-45. Can Pueblo West avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
