The Montrose Red Hawks were the 46-33 winner over the Grand Junction Central Warriors when they last played one another back in January of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Montrose took a 51-42 hit to the loss column at the hands of Grand Junction Central on Tuesday. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Montrose came into the matchup with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while Grand Junction Central is ranked 187th).
Montrose's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Mayce Oberg, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 14 rebounds. The matchup was Oberg's eighth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Haven Johnson, who scored 11 points.
This is the second loss in a row for Montrose and nudges their season record down to 7-3. As for Grand Junction Central, their victory was their third straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-8.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Montrose will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against Palisade at 6:00 p.m. on January 12th. Hopefully Palisade focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 23 on Saturday. As for Grand Junction Central, they will head out on the road to face off against Glenwood Springs at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
