Basketball Game Preview: Hancock Owls vs. West Central Area Knights

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Previous Games

02/22/24 - Home	57-55 W
01/25/22 - Home	64-72 L
12/09/21 - Neutral	72-66 W
02/12/21 - Away	62-45 W
01/28/21 - Neutral	56-48 W
+ 5 more games

Hancock and West Central Area are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2019, but not for long. The Hancock Owls will square off against the West Central Area Knights at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Hancock is headed into the contest having just suffered their closest defeat since February 15, 2024 on Tuesday. They fell just short of MACCRAY by a score of 62-59.

Meanwhile, West Central Area didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Montevideo on Tuesday, but they still walked away with a 55-49 win. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 73rd, while the Thunderhawks are ranked 219th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

West Central Area is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.7 points over those games. As for Hancock, their loss dropped their record down to 21-4.

Hancock came out on top in a nail-biter against West Central Area when the teams last played back in February of 2024, sneaking past 57-55. The rematch might be a little tougher for Hancock since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.