The Ralston Valley Mustangs will head out on the road to square off against the Mountain Vista Golden Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Ralston Valley knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 21 contests -- so hopefully Mountain Vista likes a good challenge.
Ralston Valley was handed a heart-breaking three-point defeat in their last game, but they sure didn't let that happen against Columbine on Thursday. Ralston Valley really took it to Columbine for the full four quarters, racking up a 73-30 win. The Mustangs haven't had any issues with the Rebels recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive victory against them.
Samson Wright
| 02/13/25 vs Columbine | 18 |
| 02/06/25 @ Lakewood | 12 |
| 02/01/25 vs Arvada West | 12 |
| 12/10/24 @ Legend | 12 |
| 02/04/25 vs Bear Creek | 11 |
Ralston Valley relied on the efforts of Tanner Braketa, who went 8-for-13 to rack up 18 points and six assists, and Samson Wright, who went 9-for-11 on his way to 18 points and eight boards. The dominant performance gave Wright a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Caiden Braketa, who posted ten points and seven rebounds.
They weren't the only ones working in the assist department: Ralston Valley was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Columbine only racked up seven assists.
Meanwhile, Mountain Vista faced ThunderRidge in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Mountain Vista took a 66-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of ThunderRidge. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Wednesday (56), the Golden Eagles still had to take the loss.
Ralston Valley will have to keep a close watch on Cal Baskind and Oliver Junker, a pair of players who had a big impact on Mountain Vista's prior game. Baskind put up 18 points and three steals, while Junker had nine points and six boards. The match was Baskind's tenth in a row with at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Carlos Arocho, who earned eight points and five assists.
Ralston Valley pushed their record up to 20-1 with the win, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.5 points over those games. As for Mountain Vista, their loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 8-1 and their overall record down to 16-5.
Tuesday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Ralston Valley has been crazy accurate this season, having made 48.6% of their field goals per game. However, it's not like Mountain Vista struggles in that department as they've made 50% of their shots this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Ralston Valley couldn't quite finish off Mountain Vista in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 and fell 68-66. Can Ralston Valley avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
