Two dominant guards in Rhett McDonald and Jadyn Martinez are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. We've got a battle between Panthers coming up. Wiley will be strutting in after a victory while Sierra Grande will be coming in after a defeat.
Wiley was handed a 24-point loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against La Veta, sneaking past 55-53. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Panthers have posted since January 24th.
Wiley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but McDonald led the charge by putting up 24 points in addition to seven boards and four steals. Another player making a difference was Milton Hernandez, who almost dropped a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Sierra Grande came up short against Sanford on Saturday and fell 53-40. The Panthers have struggled against the Mustangs recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost meetings.
Wiley will need to focus on slowing down Rolando Najera, one of several Sierra Grande players who made an impact when they last played. He shot 46% from the field to rack up 16 points along with seven boards and four steals. Najera has been hot, having posted three or more steals the last five times he's played. Martinez was another key player, scoring 11 points and six steals.
Wiley's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-10. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.0 points over those games. As for Sierra Grande, their defeat dropped their record down to 18-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Wiley has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 29.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Sierra Grande struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge on Friday.
Wiley suffered a grim 67-42 defeat to Sierra Grande in their previous meeting back in March of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Sierra Grande's Aron Ojeda, who went 6-for-12 en route to 16 points and five assists. Now that Wiley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
