Vela is 8-2 against Pioneer since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Vela Sabercats will be staying on the road to face off against the Pioneer Diamondbacks at 7:30 p.m. on February 27th. Vela knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past five games -- so hopefully Pioneer likes a good challenge.
With a playoff game on the line, Vela rose to the challenge on Friday. They snuck past the Mustangs with a 66-60 win. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Meanwhile, even though Gregory-Portland scored an imposing 55 points on Friday, Pioneer still came out on top. Pioneer secured a 60-55 W over Gregory-Portland. The victory was all the more spectacular given Pioneer's disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 590th, while Gregory-Portland is ranked 161st).
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pioneer to victory, but perhaps none more so than Joshua Gaither, who scored 18 points along with eight rebounds and four steals. It was the first time this season that Gaither pulled down eight or more rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Matthew Maldonado, who went 6 for 7 from beyond the arc en route to 21 points and 0 assists.
Vela is on a roll lately: they've won 24 of their last 25 games, which provided a nice bump to their 34-5 record this season. As for Pioneer, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 22-14.
Vela didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Pioneer when the teams last played on February 2nd, but they still walked away with a 52-47 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Pioneer's Julian Valdez, who scored 27 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Vela still be able to contain Valdez? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
