The Espanola Valley Sundevils will head out on the road to square off against the Valencia Jaguars at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Espanola Valley will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.
While Espanola Valley didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top against Bernalillo by a score of 63-52 on Wednesday. Given the Sundevils' advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 15th, while the Spartans are ranked 67th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Valencia hadn't done well against Artesia recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Valencia managed a 50-46 victory over Artesia. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Jaguars.
Espanola Valley pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.6 points per game. As for Valencia, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season.
Espanola Valley couldn't quite finish off Valencia in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 and fell 61-58. Thankfully for Espanola Valley, Damian Estrada (who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 11 boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
