Basketball Recap: Park Rapids Takes a Loss

Park Rapids lost against Hawley back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Park Rapids Panthers fell to the Hawley Nuggets 79-73. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 241st, while the Nuggets are ranked 120th).

Hawley was led to victory by Ingrid Rustad and Emily Vettern. Rustad posted 15 points along with seven assists and five boards, while Vettern dropped a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Rustad also grabbed four steals, which is notable because Hawley is 8-4 when she posts at least three steals, but 5-8 otherwise. Another player making a difference was McKenna Walker, who earned 14 points.

Park Rapids' defeat was their fifth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 6-19. As for Hawley, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 13-12.

Park Rapids didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 61-49 loss against Perham on the 27th. As for Hawley, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 59-46 victory against Wadena-Deer Creek on the 27th.