The Rye Thunderbolts are taking a road trip to challenge the Florence Huskies at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Rye will be strutting in after a win while Florence will be coming in after a defeat.
Rye is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 67-28 victory over Dolores Huerta Prep. With the Thunderbolts ahead 36-16 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
| 12/21/24 vs Dolores Huerta Prep | 18 |
| 12/20/24 vs Rangely | 23 |
| 12/07/24 vs Bennett | 22 |
| 12/06/24 vs Granada | 29 |
| 12/05/24 vs Liberal | 26 |
| 03/01/24 vs SkyView Academy | 15 |
Rye can attribute much of their success to Isaiah Guzman, who went 7 for 11 on his way to 21 points and five steals, and Eli Guzman, who went 8 of 12 on his way to 18 points in addition to seven assists and five rebounds. The game was Eli's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Branson Burbidge, who posted seven points.
They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Rye was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Florence was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 53-43 hit to the loss column at the hands of Buena Vista. While losing is never fun, the Huskies can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 202nd, while the Demons are ranked 81st).
Rye will have to keep a close watch on Jaret Lozano and Kyle Nuss, a pair of players who had a big impact on Florence's prior game. Lozano went 6 of 15 on his way to 19 points in addition to seven boards and four steals, while Nuss almost dropped a double-double on ten points and nine rebounds. That was a full 44.2% of Florence's points, marking the third time in a row he's put up more than a third of the team's points.
The win got Rye back to even at 3-3. As for Florence, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Rye has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.5 boards per game. However, it's not like Florence struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.6 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Rye lost to Florence on the road by a decisive 69-54 margin in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Can Rye avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
