Cripple Creek-Victor and Hanover are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The Cripple Creek-Victor Pioneers on the road again on Thursday and play against the Hanover Hornets at 6:30 p.m. on January 18th. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Colorado (Cripple Creek-Victor is ranked 301st, while Hanover is ranked 288th).
Last Monday, Cripple Creek-Victor came up short against Custer County and fell 47-37. Cripple Creek-Victor has struggled against Custer County recently, as their matchup on Monday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite their defeat, Cripple Creek-Victor saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Luciano Varas, who scored 12 points, was perhaps the best of all. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Varas has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tony Woods, who scored 11 points.
In what's become a running theme this season, Hanover gave their fans yet another huge win on Friday. They blew past Bethune 56-22 at home. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 13 more assists than your opponent, as Hanover did.
Hanover's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Junior Diaz, who scored 18 points along with five rebounds and four steals, and Tyler Decker, who scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Decker has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last five times he's played. Another player making a difference was Hector Lopez, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds.
Cripple Creek-Victor has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-7 record this season. As for Hanover, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 3-4 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's matchup: Cripple Creek-Victor have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 5 threes per game. It's a different story for Hanover, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Cripple Creek-Victor was dealt a bruising 59-26 defeat at the hands of Hanover in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. The match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Cripple Creek-Victor was down 42-5.
