Basketball Game Preview: Bucklin Red Aces vs. Macksville Mustangs

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Previous Games

02/09/24 - Home	51-27 W
02/10/23 - Away	51-32 W
12/06/22 - Home	42-28 W
02/11/22 - Home	65-44 W
12/11/21 - Away	38-62 L
+ 3 more games

Bucklin is 7-1 against Macksville since February of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Bucklin Red Aces will venture away from home to challenge the Macksville Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. Bucklin will be looking to extend their current 13-game winning streak.

Bucklin is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Ashland: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Bucklin blew Ashland out of the water with a 58-30 final score. Given the Red Aces' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 44th, while the Blue Jays are ranked 212th), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Macksville won against Victoria on Friday with 46 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Tuesday. Macksville strolled past Kinsley with points to spare, taking the game 46-28. The win continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Coyotes: they've now won eight in a row.

Bucklin better focus on containing Laney Butler and Isabela Ortiz as the pair were huge in Macksville's win. Butler went 5-for-7 en route to 11 points and six steals, while Ortiz went 8-for-18 to rack up 17 points and three steals. Those 11 points gave Butler a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Heidy Ortiz, who posted seven points and three steals.

Bucklin pushed their record up to 15-3 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.2 points over those games. As for Macksville, their record now sits at 8-9.

Bucklin took their win against Macksville when the teams last played back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 51-27. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bucklin since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.