The Raton Tigers will square off against the Estancia Bears at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Raton is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.8 points per game this season.
It was a proper cat-fight when Raton faced off against Santa Rosa on Saturday. Raton took a 62-52 hit to the loss column at the hands of Santa Rosa. The Tigers haven't had much luck with the Lions recently, as the team has come up short the last seven times they've met.
Chase Walton
| 02/22/25 vs Santa Rosa | 7 |
| 02/20/25 vs Tucumcari | 6 |
| 02/17/25 @ Trinidad | 10 |
| 02/15/25 @ Clayton | 4 |
| 02/13/25 @ Pecos | 4 |
| + 8 more games |
The losing side was boosted by Chase Walton, who went 6-for-7 to rack up 12 points along with seven rebounds and seven blocks. He has been hot for a while, having posted two or more blocks the last 13 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Petrini, who almost dropped a double-double with 14 points and nine boards.
Even though they lost, Raton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in 24 consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Estancia was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their 14th straight loss. They were outmatched by Santa Rosa and fell 89-52. 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 128th, while the Lions are ranked 26th).
Raton will have to contain Justin Rubio as he made an impact in Estancia's last game. He went 6-for-15 en route to 18 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. Marcos Lucero was another key player, putting up nine points.
Estancia's defeat dropped their record down to 5-21. As for Raton, their loss dropped their record down to 13-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Raton has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 34.5 boards per game. However, it's not like Estancia struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.6 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Raton strolled past Estancia when the teams last played on February 8th by a score of 63-48. Will Raton repeat their success, or does Estancia have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
