Having just played yesterday, the Rocky Mountain Lobos will head out on the road to face off against the Northglenn Norsemen at 7:00 p.m. on February 6th. Both teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for Rocky Mountain and five for Northglenn.
Rocky Mountain's game on Monday was all tied up 27-27 at the half, but sadly for them it didn't stay that way. They took a 56-47 hit to the loss column at the hands of Monarch. While losing is never fun, Rocky Mountain can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 88th, while Monarch is ranked 31st).
Despite the loss, Rocky Mountain saw an underclassman step up: Daniel Mbadinga scored 22 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Another player making a difference was Avantae Hood, who scored nine points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Even though they lost, Rocky Mountain smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Monarch only pulled down eight offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, Northglenn came up short against Horizon on Tuesday and fell 51-40. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Northglenn in their matchups with Horizon: they've now lost seven in a row.
Despite the defeat, Northglenn got a solid performance out of Jose Jaimes, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Noah Scrivani was another key contributor, scoring five points.
Jonathan Hernandez, who's played more minutes than anyone else on the Norsemen squad sat out for Tuesday's match. With Hernandez sitting this one out, Elijah Kloeckner got some extra time on the court (20 vs. his season average of 9.39).
Rocky Mountain now has a losing record at 9-10. As for Northglenn, they dropped their record down to 7-11 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road.
Tuesday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Rocky Mountain have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.4% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Northglenn struggles in that department as they've made 38.1% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for Rocky Mountain against Northglenn in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 as the team secured a 81-43 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rocky Mountain since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
