Valencia hasn't had much luck against Highland recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Valencia Jaguars will head out to take on the Highland Hornets at 7:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
On Tuesday, Valencia took a blow against St. Pius X, falling 75-44. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 64th, while the Sartans are ranked 12th).
Meanwhile, Highland was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 61-57 to Grants. The Hornets have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Valencia will have to keep a close watch on Jerry Moody and Jesus Licon, a pair of players who had a big impact on Highland's prior game. Moody dropped a double-double on 18 points and 17 rebounds, while Licon went 5 of 11 en route to 15 points along with eight boards and seven assists. Moody is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Owen Cheng, who posted 11 points and five boards.
Valencia's loss dropped their record down to 8-11. As for Highland, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-11.
Things could have been worse for Valencia, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 67-53 loss to Highland when the teams last played back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Licon, who dropped a double-double on 32 points and ten rebounds. Now that Valencia knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
