After a string of 14 wins, the Vela Sabercats's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They opened the new year with a less-than-successful 55-43 loss to Pioneer. Vela was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Pioneer apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in December of 2023.
Despite the loss, Vela still got an impressive performance from Janai Coleman, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 rebounds. Coleman hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Gg Betancourt, who scored 13 points along with three steals.
Vela's loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 21-4. As for Pioneer, they are on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 games, which provided a massive bump to their 17-8 record this season.
Vela will head out on the road to face off against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing isn't great for Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Memorial: they have been struggling with four straight losses at home, while Vela has snatched up 19 consecutive wins on the road dating back to last season. Pioneer will take on Sharyland at 12:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Sharyland focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 22 on Tuesday.
