The Estancia Bears will face off against the Raton Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Estancia is coming into the matchup on a four-game losing streak.
Last Saturday, Estancia had to suffer through a 81-42 loss at the hands of Logan. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 118th, while the Longhorns are ranked fourth).
The losing side was boosted by Olavio Hernandez, who posted ten points.
Meanwhile, Raton earned a 58-47 victory over Trinidad on Thursday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tigers.
Raton's win came from a few key players Estancia will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Chase Walton, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 boards. He also posted five blocks, which is notable because Raton is undefeated when he posts at least three blocks, but 3-7 otherwise. Tyler Petrini was another key player, going 6 for 15 en route to 15 points and seven rebounds.
Raton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.
The win got Raton back to even at 7-7. As for Estancia, their loss dropped their record down to 5-11.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's game: Estancia has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 46.8% of their three-pointers per game. It's a different story for Raton, though, as they've only made 24.7% of their threes this season. Given Estancia's sizable advantage in that area, Raton will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Estancia against Raton when the teams last played back in January of 2018, as the team secured an 80-47 victory. Will Estancia repeat their success, or does Raton have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
