The Pueblo Central Wildcats and the Pueblo West Cyclones will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Saturday, Pueblo Central rang in the new year with a 56-47 win over Fountain-Fort Carson.
Pueblo Central's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Luke Beltran led the charge by scoring 14 points along with two steals. Beltran hasn't dropped below two steals for four straight games. Xavier Davis was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with nine rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Pueblo West waltzed into their matchup on Saturday with four straight wins but they left with five. They came out on top against Evergreen by a score of 60-50. 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 has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last eight times he's played. Another player making a difference was Marek Crowley, who scored 15 points along with four steals and two blocks.
The victory got Pueblo Central back to even at 5-5. As for Pueblo West, they pushed their record up to 8-4 with that victory, which was their third straight at home.
Pueblo Central beat Pueblo West 54-45 when the teams last played back in February of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Pueblo West's Colton Hawkins, who scored 27 points along with eight rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for Pueblo Central to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
