The Air Academy Kadets will be playing at home against the Cheyenne Mountain Red-Tailed Hawks at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses apiece.
Last Wednesday, Air Academy came up short against the Rangers and fell 62-53. While losing is never fun, Air Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 134th, while the Rangers are ranked 38th).
Defeat or not, Air Academy got some senior leadership from Noah Hellem and Max Howery. Hellem scored 22 points, while Howery. dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds. That was a full 41.5% of Air Academy's points, marking the seventh time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Tommy Tygart, who scored five points.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne Mountain had to suffer through a rough 86-41 loss at the hands of the Rangers. Cheyenne Mountain has not had much luck with the Rangers recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.
Air Academy has not been sharp recently as the team's lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season. As for Cheyenne Mountain, they dropped their record down to 2-18 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road.
Air Academy beat the Red-Tailed Hawks 48-37 when the teams last played back in January. Does Air Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Red-Tailed Hawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
