Even though the Ruidoso Warriors scored an imposing 60 points on Friday, the Lovington Wildcats still came out on top. Lovington took down Ruidoso 76-60. That's another feather in the cap for Lovington, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
Lovington had a senior duo take command as Zadrick Betancourt scored 20 points along with seven rebounds and four steals and Julian Arroyo scored 21 points along with four steals. Betancourt is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played. Demarcus Thompson jr was another key contributor, scoring four points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Ruidoso's loss came despite strong showings from Patrick Kimbrell and Logan Sandoval. Kimbrell dropped a double-double on 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Sandoval scored 19 points along with five assists and five rebounds. Sandoval is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Augustine Saiz, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds.
Lovington has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-7 record this season. As for Ruidoso, their loss dropped their record down to 8-7.
Lovington will head out on the road to square off against Carlsbad at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in New Mexico (Carlsbad is ranked 35th, while Lovington is ranked 46th). Ruidoso won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Melrose at 2:30 p.m. on January 20th. Melrose is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last three games.
