Rowe and Vela are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2014, but not for long. The Rowe Warriors will be home for the holidays to greet the Vela Sabercats at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Rowe scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. They blew past Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest 75-42 on the road. Given Rowe's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 361st, while Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Southwest is ranked 1626th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Vela really took it to Valley View for the full four quarters, racking up a 88-38 victory at home. With Vela ahead 48-15 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Vela's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ej Avelar led the charge by scoring 20 points along with four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Axel Garza, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Rowe is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season. As for Vela, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-5.
Rowe suffered a grim 71-46 defeat to Vela in their previous meeting back in January. Can Rowe avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.