Basketball Game Preview: Bloomfield Bobcats vs. Artesia Bulldogs

The Bloomfield Bobcats will venture away from home to face off against the Artesia Bulldogs at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Bloomfield took a loss when they played away from home last Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Tuesday. They took down Zuni 38-22.

Bloomfield can attribute much of their success to Alexus Begay, who posted 11 points and five boards, and Delanna Russell, who went 5 of 12 on her way to 12 points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance gave Begay a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brooke Segay, who put up seven points in addition to eight boards and six steals.

Bloomfield smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Artesia's strategy against Chaparral on Tuesday. Artesia was the clear victor by a 57-33 margin over Chaparral. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Bulldogs had established a 20 point advantage.

Bloomfield's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-4. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.1 points per game. As for Artesia, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-7 record this season.

Bloomfield suffered a grim 69-47 defeat to Artesia in their previous meeting back in January of 2023. Can Bloomfield avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.