Basketball Game Preview: Montrose Red Hawks vs. Montezuma-Cortez Panthers

The Montrose Red Hawks will square off against the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Montrose has eight straight wins, Montezuma-Cortez has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Montrose is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Grand Junction Central: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Montrose blew Grand Junction Central out of the water with a 43-13 final score. The Red Hawks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Montrose can attribute much of their success to Lilly Nelson, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine boards, and Mayce Oberg, who went 5 for 11 on her way to 11 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. Oberg is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Maggie Legg, who posted ten points.

Montrose smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in seven consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Montezuma-Cortez took a blow against Alamosa on Saturday, falling 64-35. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 235th, while the Mean Moose are ranked 68th).

Montrose pushed their record up to 13-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 23.8 points per game. As for Montezuma-Cortez, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-7.