Basketball Game Preview: Hampton Hawks vs. Wilcox-Hildreth Falcons

It'll be Battle of the Birds when the Hampton Hawks duke it out with the Wilcox-Hildreth Falcons at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday... Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Last Friday, Hampton took a blow against East Butler, falling 71-26.

Wyatt Dose was Hampton's leading scorer, having posted eight points. Noah Miller held things down on the boards with five rebounds. Landen Rojewski took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.

Meanwhile, Wilcox-Hildreth played a tough matchup on Saturday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against Pleasanton, falling 68-43. The Falcons have struggled against the Bulldogs recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive lost matchup.

Despite the defeat, Wilcox-Hildreth saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Kaleb Johnson went 8 for 13 on his way to 19 points in addition to seven boards and five steals. The dominant performance gave Johnson a new career-high in steals.

Wilcox-Hildreth's loss dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Hampton, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-3.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Hampton has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 26.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Wilcox-Hildreth struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Hampton ended up a good deal behind Wilcox-Hildreth in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, losing 54-38. Can Hampton avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.