Nucla is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Dove Creek is on a six-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Nucla Mustangs just played last yesterday, but they'll still welcome the Dove Creek Bulldogs at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Nucla is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.2 points per game this season.
Nucla will bounce into Saturday's game after beating Telluride, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. Nucla walked away with a 66-54 win over Telluride on Friday. The Mustangs' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Brycen Rummel
| 02/07/25 @ Telluride | 4 |
| 01/30/25 vs Mancos | 3 |
| 01/28/25 @ Dove Creek | 4 |
| 01/24/25 vs Dolores | 6 |
| 01/23/25 vs De Beque | 3 |
| + 28 more games |
Nucla's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Brycen Rummel led the charge by almost dropping a triple-double on 18 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Rummel is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 33 games he's played dating back to last season. Slade Gillen was another key player, dropping a double-double on 19 points and 18 boards.
Nucla smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in 11 consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Dove Creek beat Ouray 49-36 on Tuesday.
Nucla better focus on containing Josh Kibel and Sheldon Gardner as the pair were huge in Dove Creek's win. Kibel almost dropped a double-double on 22 points and nine steals, while Gardner went 6 for 15 en route to 18 points and six steals. The dominant performance gave Gardner a new career-high in steals. Another player making a difference was Nicholas Aragon, who posted a point and four steals.
Nucla has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.3 points over those games. As for Dove Creek, their victory bumped their record up to 12-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Nucla has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 38.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Dove Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Nucla lost to Dove Creek at home by a decisive 60-43 margin when the teams last played last Tuesday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Dove Creek's Liam Hassell, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. Now that Nucla knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
