Preview: Hale County Wildcats vs. Hillcrest Patriots
Hale County is 0-5 against Hillcrest since December of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Hale County Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Hillcrest Patriots at 2:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Friday, Hale County was fully in charge, breezing past Marion 68-13 at home. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 32-4.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Hale County to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kha?liyah Harris, who scored 16 points along with 5 steals. Harris is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now stole two or more in the last six games she's played. Yasmine Jackson was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with 5 steals.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Hillcrest at home against Northridge on Friday as the team secured a 61-26 win. Given Hillcrest's advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked tenth, while Northridge is ranked 59th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Their wins bumped Hale County to 8-2 and Marion to 6-3.
Hale County lost to Hillcrest on the road by a decisive 58-39 margin in their previous matchup back in January. Can Hale County avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
