On Thursday, the Valley Vikings faced the La Cueva Bears in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Valley fell 77-67 to La Cueva. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Despite the loss, Valley still got an impressive performance from Julian Chavez, who scored 24 points along with five steals. Chavez is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Kozlowski, who scored 14 points along with five assists.
Valley struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as La Cueva pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.
La Cueva got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Dylan Chavez out in front who scored 15 points along with six assists. That's the first time this season that Chavez scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Cameron Dyer, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds.
Valley has not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-3 record this season. As for La Cueva, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 3-2.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Valley will take on Artesia at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. As for La Cueva, they will head out on the road to face off against Atrisco Heritage Academy at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Atrisco Heritage Academy's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season.
