Creede and Sierra Grande are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2018, but not for long. The Creede Miners will venture away from home to challenge the Sierra Grande Panthers at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Creede has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with three straight losses, while Sierra Grande will come in with three straight wins.
Last Friday, Creede came up short against Cotopaxi and fell 45-36. While losing is never fun, the Miners can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 324th, while the Pirates are ranked 138th).
Creede might have lost, but man, Jaxson Fazio was a machine: he went 6 for 11 on his way to 13 points and four steals. Charlie Fairchild was another key player, putting up 12 points along with six boards and three steals.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Sierra Grande). They took their game on Thursday with ease, bagging an 89-18 victory over Lake City Community. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 57-4.
Creede better keep an eye on Jadyn Martinez. He was instrumental in Sierra Grande's win, almost dropping a triple-double on 22 points, nine rebounds, and 11 steals. The dominant performance gave Martinez a new career-high in steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Nehemiah Wilson, who went 5 of 9 en route to 10 points in addition to seven boards and four steals.
Sierra Grande smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 36 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive rebounds in six consecutive matchups.
Sierra Grande's win bumped their record up to 7-2. As for Creede, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Creede has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Sierra Grande struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Creede suffered a grim 82-56 defeat to Sierra Grande when the teams last played back in January of 2024. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Creede was down 52-29.
