Basketball Game Preview: Taft Raiders vs. Harlan Hawks

Taft is 1-8 against Harlan since December of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Taft Raiders will challenge the Harlan Hawks at 6:30 p.m.

Taft is headed into Wednesday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Saturday. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 50-46 heartbreaker at the hands of Sotomayor. That's two games in a row now that the Raiders have lost by exactly four points.

Meanwhile, Harlan waltzed into their game on Saturday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They were the clear victor by a 66-42 margin over the Falcons. Given the Hawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while the Falcons are ranked 368th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Harlan is also on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 19-10 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 76.8 points per game. As for Taft, their loss dropped their record down to 6-23.

Taft took a serious blow against Harlan in their previous meeting back in January, falling 69-37. Can Taft avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.