Basketball Game Preview: Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots vs. Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds

Hitchcock-Tulare is 0-10 against Wolsey-Wessington since February of 2019 but things could change on Thursday. The Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots will head out on the road to challenge the Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds at 8:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Last Monday, Hitchcock-Tulare had to suffer through a 66-38 loss at the hands of Aberdeen Christian. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Dakota basketball rankings (they are ranked 128th, while the Knights are ranked 31st).

Meanwhile, Wolsey-Wessington entered their matchup against DeSmet on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Wolsey-Wessington fell just short of DeSmet by a score of 53-51.

Hitchcock-Tulare will have to keep a close watch on Caleb Richmond and Moshe Richmond, a pair of players who had a big impact on Wolsey-Wessington's prior game. Caleb posted 19 points and seven rebounds, while Moshe went 7-for-15 to rack up 18 points and eight boards. Another player making a difference was Peyton Rainford, who scored three points.

Hitchcock-Tulare's defeat was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-12. As for Wolsey-Wessington, their loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 13-4.

Hitchcock-Tulare took a serious blow against Wolsey-Wessington in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 69-31. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Hitchcock-Tulare was down 47-17.