Basketball Game Preview: Valencia Jaguars vs. Espanola Valley Sundevils

The Valencia Jaguars will take on the Espanola Valley Sundevils in a holiday battle at at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Valencia will bounce into Saturday's match after beating Artesia, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Valencia managed a 50-46 victory over Artesia on Friday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Jaguars.

Meanwhile, Espanola Valley had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Wednesday. They walked away with a 63-52 win over the Spartans. While the Sundevils didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Espanola Valley's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.6 points per game. As for Valencia, they now have a winning record of 5-4.

Valencia came out on top in a nail-biter against Espanola Valley in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, sneaking past 61-58. Will Valencia repeat their success, or does Espanola Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.