Preview: Banner County Wildcats vs. Hay Springs Hawks
The Banner County Wildcats will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Hay Springs Hawks on Friday. Banner County is hoping to put an end to an 11-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Last Thursday, Banner County took a serious blow against Cody-Kilgore, falling 52-17.
Karleigh Leslie was Banner County's leading scorer, having posted nine points.
Abigayle Jones held things down on the boards with 15 rebounds. She took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.
Meanwhile, Hay Springs waltzed into their matchup Tuesday with three straight wins but they left with four. They came out on top against Crawford by a score of 44-37.
Hay Springs' victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Gabby Twarling, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and four blocks. The game was Twarling's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Mya Turman, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Banner County's loss dropped their record down to 1-8. As for Hay Springs, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Banner County have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 24 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Hay Springs, though, as they've been averaging only 39.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Banner County was taken down by Hay Springs 67-13 when the teams last played back in December of 2022. The match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Banner County was down 44-4.
