The La Junta Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Rye Thunderbolts at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully La Junta focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 on Thursday.
La Junta took care of business in their home opener. They took down Custer County 45-31.
La Junta's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Miles Marshall led the charge by scoring 12 points along with 5 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Monze Alvidres, who scored 11 points.
Meanwhile, Rye had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Rocky Ford 60-9 at home. Given Rye's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 16th, while Rocky Ford is ranked 110th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Rye's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Codah Graber, who scored 11 points. Isaiah Guzman was another key contributor, scoring 10 points along with 5 assists and 3 steals.
La Junta's victory bumped their record up to 1-0. As for Rye, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-0.
La Junta came up short against Rye when the teams last played back in December of 2022, falling 53-46. Can La Junta avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
