Basketball Game Preview: Hancock Owls vs. Battle Lake Battlers

The Hancock Owls will head out to take on the Battle Lake Battlers at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Last Saturday, Hancock lost to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on the road by a 73-54 margin. The Owls have struggled against the Knights recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost matchup.

Meanwhile, Battle Lake was not able to break out of their rough patch last Friday as the team picked up their ninth straight loss dating back to last season. They fell 56-44 to Ashby. While losing is never fun, the Battlers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 371st, while the Arrows are ranked 77th).

Battle Lake's defeat dropped their record down to 0-7. As for Hancock, they now have a losing record at 3-4.

Hancock ended up a good deal behind Battle Lake when the teams last played back in January, losing 83-65. Can Hancock avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.