The Valencia Jaguars pushed their score all the way to 58 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 66-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of Valley. While losing is never fun, Valencia can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 49th, while Valley is ranked ninth).
Valencia's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jorge Zuniga, who scored 23 points along with five rebounds, and Damian Estrada who scored 21 points along with six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Zuniga has scored all season. Jared Porter was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Tyler Kozlowski led the charge by scoring 23 points along with six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Julian Chavez, who scored 14 points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Valencia bumped their record down to 8-6 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.0 points per game. As for Valley, the victory was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 10-3.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Valencia will face off against Gallup at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Gallup is coming into the matchup on a three-game losing streak. As for Valley, they will head out on the road to challenge Rio Grande at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Rio Grande focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 14 back in December of 2023.
