The Air Academy Kadets's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their third straight loss. They fell to Pueblo South 74-68. Despite running the score up even higher than they did last Friday (55), Air Academy still had to take the loss.
Loss or not, Air Academy got some senior leadership from Noah Hellem who scored 25 points along with six rebounds and Max Howery who scored 16 points. Hellem scored a full 36.8% of Air Academy's points, the 11th time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brad Wieker, who scored five points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Air Academy were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Maurice Austin was his usual excellent self, scoring 56 points along with eight steals and six rebounds for Pueblo South. The contest was Austin's 11th in a row with at least ten points. Caeden Herrera was another key contributor, scoring five points along with seven rebounds.
Air Academy has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-8 record this season. As for Pueblo South, their victory bumped their record up to 5-6.
Air Academy will head out on the road to face off against Lewis-Palmer at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lewis-Palmer presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Air Academy in Colorado (Lewis-Palmer is ranked 23rd, while Air Academy is ranked 132nd). As for Pueblo South, they will be playing at home against Smoky Hill at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Smoky Hill has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 836 points over their last 12 games.
