Cotopaxi is 1-8 against Sierra Grande since February of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Cotopaxi Pirates will square off against the Sierra Grande Panthers at 5:30 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Saturday.
Sierra Grande will be up against a hot Cotopaxi team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. Everything went Cotopaxi's way against South Park on Thursday as Cotopaxi made off with a 51-27 victory. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 152nd, while the Burros are ranked 348th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/23/25 vs South Park | 5 |
| 01/17/25 vs Creede | 4 |
| 01/11/25 @ Sangre de Cristo | 2 |
| 01/10/25 @ Centennial | 2 |
| 12/21/24 @ Evangel Christian Academy | 2 |
Terrance Evans and Kenny Teter were among the main playmakers for Cotopaxi as the former dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds and the latter dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 boards. Evans has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 27 times he's played. Joel Tezak was another key player, putting up ten points.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Sierra Grande on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Creede out of the water with a 67-18 final score. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matches by 38 points or more this season.
Cotopaxi better focus on containing Jadyn Martinez and Aron Ojeda as the pair were huge in Sierra Grande's win. Martinez went 10 for 19 en route to 27 points in addition to seven rebounds and six steals, while Ojeda went 8 of 16 on his way to 19 points along with eight steals and five boards. The dominant performance gave Ojeda a new career-high in steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Carlos Lopez, who posted four points.
Sierra Grande smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive boards in seven consecutive games.
Cotopaxi's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-2. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.8 points per game. As for Sierra Grande, their record is now 8-2.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Cotopaxi has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 33.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Sierra Grande struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Cotopaxi was dealt a bruising 74-20 defeat at the hands of Sierra Grande when the teams last played back in February of 2022. Can Cotopaxi avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
