Basketball Game Preview: Harding County Ranchers vs. Sundance Bulldogs

The Harding County Ranchers will venture away from home to challenge the Sundance Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Harding County is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.

Harding County is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Faith: they outscored them in every quarter. Everything went Harding County's way against Faith on Saturday as Harding County made off with a 55-30 victory. Given the Ranchers' advantage in MaxPreps' South Dakota basketball rankings (they are ranked 23rd, while the Longhorns are ranked 95th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Harding County to victory, but perhaps none more so than Macey Wendt, who posted 12 points and five steals. That's the most steals Wendt has posted since back in February of 2024. Another player making a difference was Bailey Rae Verhulst, who went 6 of 12 on her way to 13 points in addition to eight steals and five assists.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Sundance beat Hot Springs County 47-42 on Saturday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bulldogs.

Harding County's win was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-0. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.3 points per game. As for Sundance, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season.

Everything came up roses for Harding County against Sundance in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, as the team secured a 71-24 victory. In that game, Harding County amassed a halftime lead of 39-13, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.