Two dominant forwards in Tyson Mares-Benz and Trey Olsen are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mountain View Mountain Lions will be playing at home against the Loveland Red Wolves at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Mountain View's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five matches.
Mountain View pushed their score all the way to 56 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Niwot 62-56.
Despite their defeat, Mountain View saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Mares-Benz, who almost dropped a double-double on 12 points and nine rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Mares-Benz has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Keegan Amans, who scored nine points.
Meanwhile, Loveland's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight defeat. They took a 61-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of Broomfield. While losing is never fun, Loveland can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 149th, while Broomfield is ranked 43rd).
Mountain View's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-11. As for Loveland, their loss was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 7-12.
Mountain View came up short against Loveland when the teams last played back in February of 2023, falling 50-44. Thankfully for Mountain View, Garrett Harstad (who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 14 rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
