Castle View is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Ponderosa is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Castle View Sabercats will take on the Ponderosa Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Castle View pushed their score all the way to 62 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Chaparral 68-62. While losing is never fun, Castle View can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 57th, while Chaparral is ranked ninth).
The losing side was boosted by Vitorio Dante, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and ten rebounds. That was a full 37.1% of Castle View's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Evan Mckean, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Ponderosa was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 59-53 to Regis Jesuit. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Ponderosa has scored all season.
Despite their loss, Ponderosa saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Noah Wilhelm, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Wilhelm has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Dylan Karsteter, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.
Even though they lost, Ponderosa smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Regis Jesuit only pulled down four offensive rebounds.
Castle View's defeat dropped their record down to 10-5. As for Ponderosa, their loss dropped their record down to 11-4.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Castle View have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 30.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Ponderosa struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 31.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Castle View came up short against Ponderosa in their previous meeting back in January of 2023, falling 80-69. Thankfully for Castle View, Derek Slattery (who scored 17 points along with two steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
