Preview: Harding County Ranchers vs. Hulett Devils
The Harding County Ranchers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Hulett Devils at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Harding County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 21 on Friday.
Last Friday, Harding County was the victim of a rough 72-51 loss at the hands of Hettinger/Scranton. Harding County was down 55-35 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.
Harding County might have lost, but man, Nayati Bickerdyke was a machine: he almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Bickerdyke has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Cohen Smith, who scored seven points.
Meanwhile, Hulett waltzed into their contest on Saturday with four straight wins but they left with five. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Midwest 64-33 at home. Hulett has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 23 points or more this season.
Harding County has not been sharp recently as the team has lost eight of their last ten matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-10 record this season. As for Hulett, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-6.
Everything came up roses for Harding County against Hulett when the teams last played back in January of 2022 as the team secured a 67-35 victory. Does Harding County have another victory up their sleeve, or will Hulett turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
