The Monarch Coyotes will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against the Rocky Mountain Lobos at 6:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
Monarch put the finishing touches on their fourth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They blew past Poudre, posting a 71-34 victory on the road. Given Monarch's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 58th, while Poudre is ranked 223rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Logan Laverty and Tyler Carlson were among the main playmakers for Monarch as the former scored 19 points along with two steals and the latter scored 22 points along with two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Carlson has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Van Nellessen, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds and three blocks.
Meanwhile, even though Fairview scored an imposing 56 points on Friday, Rocky Mountain still came out on top. Rocky Mountain snuck past Fairview with a 60-56 win.
It was another big night for Avantae Hood, who scored 17 points along with nine assists and four steals. That's the first time this season that he posted eight or more assists. Another player making a difference was Harrison Sandstedt, who scored nine points.
Monarch is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. As for Rocky Mountain, their win bumped their record up to 5-6.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Monarch have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 24.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Rocky Mountain struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 23.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Monarch strolled past Rocky Mountain in their previous meeting back in January of 2023 by a score of 66-50. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Rocky Mountain's Charlie Dortch, who scored 13 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for Monarch to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
