Basketball Game Preview: Red Mesa Redskins vs. Ganado Hornets

Red Mesa hasn't had much luck against Ganado recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Red Mesa Redskins will be playing in front of their home fans against the Ganado Hornets at 6:00 p.m.

Last Saturday, Red Mesa was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 48-42 to Ash Fork. The Redskins have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Despite their loss, Red Mesa saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Merlynn Denezpi, who posted 23 points and three steals, was perhaps the best of all. The dominant performance gave Denezpi a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Shyla Pipkin, who scored four points along with eight rebounds and three steals.

Even though they lost, Red Mesa smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in six consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Ganado didn't have too much trouble with Hopi on Monday as they won 59-42. Given the Hornets' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 36th, while the Bruins are ranked 136th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Ganado is also on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.0 points per game. As for Red Mesa, they now have a losing record at 12-13.

Red Mesa lost to Ganado at home by a decisive 72-57 margin when the teams last played back in December of 2022. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ganado's Faith James, who earned 36 points. Now that Red Mesa knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.