If the Mancos Bluejays were riding high off their 83-55 takedown of Non Varsity Tournament Opponent on Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The contest between Mancos and Palisade wasn't particularly close, with Mancos falling 63-49. Mancos lost against Palisade in their previous head to head back in December of 2022, too, but the margin this time around was much wider than the 62-52 score last time.
Several Bluejays players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Brian Veach, who scored 16 points. Veach scored a full 32.7% of Mancos' points, the second time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kail Wayman, who scored 11 points.
Palisade's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Layne Ruppelius led the charge by scoring 14 points along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists. The match was Ruppelius' third in a row with at least ten points. Hunter Howard was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with 3 steals.
Mancos' loss dropped their record down to 1-1. As for Palisade, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Mancos will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against Ignacio at 4:30 p.m. on December 14th. As for Palisade, they will take on Windsor Charter Academy at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
