The Valley Vikings waltzed into their matchup on Wednesday with seven straight wins but they left with eight. They came out on top against Manzano by a score of 67-55. Given Valley's advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked ninth, while Manzano is ranked 71st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Julian Chavez led the charge by scoring 15 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Chavez has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last six times he's played. Tyler Kozlowski was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with two steals.
Valley pushed their record up to 12-3 with that victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. As for Manzano, they are on a seven-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-10.
Valley will look to defend their home court on Friday against Atrisco Heritage Academy at 7:00 p.m. Atrisco Heritage Academy has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,205 points over their last 16 games. As for Manzano, they will head out on the road to square off against Highland at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Highland focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 last Tuesday.
