The Ponderosa Mustangs lost against the Fort Collins Lambkins back in January of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Wednesday. Ponderosa was outmatched by Fort Collins on the road and fell 62-34. While losing is never fun, Ponderosa can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 175th, while Fort Collins is ranked 41st).
Maddison Neale and Laney Webb certainly did their best on Wednesday to try and avoid the loss. Neale scored 21 points, while Webb scored five points. Neale scored a full 61.8% of Ponderosa's points, the tenth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Fort Collins got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Paige Fry out in front who scored eight points along with 11 rebounds and six steals. Those six steals set a new season-high mark for her. Another player making a difference was Avery Alcaraz, who scored 14 points.
Ponderosa's defeat was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 3-7. As for Fort Collins, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Ponderosa will take on George Washington at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Fort Collins won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Grand Junction Central at 6:00 p.m. on January 4th. Hopefully Grand Junction Central focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 18 back in December of 2023.
