Sangre de Cristo is 8-2 against Creede since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Sangre de Cristo Thunderbirds will be playing in front of their home fans against the Creede Miners at 6:30 p.m. Hopefully Sangre de Cristo focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Saturday.
Sangre de Cristo scored the most points they've had all season to find success. They blew past Centennial 55-20 on the road. Sangre de Cristo has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 22 points or more this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sangre de Cristo to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kaiden Smit, who scored 18 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. Smit hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for five straight games. Deagon Rogers was another key contributor, scoring 22 points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Creede's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their third straight loss. They were beaten by Moffat 62-35. Creede has struggled against Moffat recently, as their match on Saturday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
The match pitted two key players against one another: Will Roden and Ziah Pesqueira. Pesqueira had a great game and scored 17 points along with eight steals and five assists. Meanwhile, Roden was balling out in the loss, scoring 24 points along with five rebounds.
Creede struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Moffat pulled down 20 offensive rebounds.
Sangre de Cristo is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season. As for Creede, they have traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost eight of their last nine games, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-11 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Sangre de Cristo have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Creede struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Sangre de Cristo strolled past Creede in their previous matchup back in February of 2023 by a score of 57-43. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Creede's Ryder Whitehorn, who scored ten points along with nine rebounds and six blocks. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Sangre de Cristo to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
