Van Horn is 9-0 against Dell City since December of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Van Horn Eagles will look to defend their home court against the Dell City Cougars at 2:30 p.m. Hopefully Van Horn focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 16 on Tuesday.
Van Horn posted their biggest victory since December 7, 2023 on Tuesday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Sierra Blanca 58-11 at home. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 33-0.
Van Horn can attribute much of their success to Joey Anchondo, who scored 16 points along with three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Pablo Mendez, who scored ten points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Dell City's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight loss. They took a hard 55-38 fall against Marfa.
Despite the loss, Dell City had strong showings from Isaac Estrada, who scored ten points along with three steals, and Reyes Espinoza, who scored 11 points along with three steals. Espinoza is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Josh Rector, who scored five points.
Van Horn is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 17-8 record this season. As for Dell City, they dropped their record down to 4-7 with that loss, which was their third straight at home.
Friday's match will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Gio Corralez and Espinoza. Corralez has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 12.5 points, 2.3 steals, and 4.2 rebounds. For his part, Espinoza has averaged 21.1 points, 4.5 steals, and 4.4 assists.
Everything came up roses for Van Horn against Dell City in their previous meeting on January 3rd as the squad secured a 76-44 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Espinoza, who scored 21 points along with three steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Van Horn still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
