The Clayton Yellowjackets will square off against the Estancia Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with four consecutive losses for Clayton and 11 for Estancia.
Last Saturday, Clayton ended up a good deal behind Santa Rosa and lost 76-62. While losing is never fun, the Yellowjackets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 86th, while the Lions are ranked 24th).
Meanwhile, Estancia played a tough contest on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 68-31 loss at the hands of Tucumcari. The game marked the Bears' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Clayton will have to keep a close watch on Justin Rubio and Daniel Hernandez, a pair of players who had a big impact on Estancia's prior game. Rubio dropped a double-double with 14 points and 15 boards, while Hernandez dropped a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. That's the most boards Hernandez has posted since back in December of 2024.
Even though they lost, Estancia smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in six consecutive contests.
Estancia's record now sits at 5-18. As for Clayton, they now have a losing record of 10-11.
Everything went Clayton's way against Estancia when the teams last played back in January, as Clayton made off with a 65-44 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Rubio, who dropped a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Clayton still be able to contain Rubio? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
