The Southwest Roughriders will take on the Bertrand Vikings in a tournament on Tuesday. Southwest has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Southwest will bounce into Tuesday's game after beating Cambridge, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. Southwest snuck past Cambridge with a 69-65 victory on Saturday.
Houston Billeter was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 30 points and ten rebounds. That makes it 11 consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Southwest's points. Another player making a difference was Deric Kelley, who posted eight points and 13 boards.
Southwest smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in nine consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Bertrand entered their tilt with Southern Valley on Saturday with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. They managed a 63-57 win over the Eagles. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 125th, while the Eagles are ranked 253rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Southwest better keep an eye on Marcus Hernandez. He was instrumental in Bertrand's win, dropping a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds. The contest was Hernandez's third in a row with at least ten points. Kayden Hatfield was another key player, putting up 15 points.
Bertrand's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-4. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.9 points per game. As for Southwest, their win bumped their record up to 6-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Southwest has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Bertrand struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.8 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Southwest came up short against Bertrand in their previous meeting last Friday, falling 57-53. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bertrand's Thunder Nelson, who dropped a double-double on 32 points and 15 rebounds. Now that Southwest knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
