Basketball Game Preview: Randolph Cardinals vs. Hartington-Newcastle Wildcats

Having just played yesterday, the Randolph Cardinals will head out on the road to face off against the Hartington-Newcastle Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Randolph will come in still looking for their first win of the season.

Randolph is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Lyons-Decatur Northeast on Thursday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Randolph was beaten by Lyons-Decatur Northeast 56-14. The Cardinals were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 34-7.

Brooke Meier put forth a good effort for the losing side as she posted five points and six boards. That was a full 35.7% of Randolph's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.

Even though they lost, Randolph smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in three consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Hartington-Newcastle beat Lutheran-Northeast 41-32 on Saturday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Wildcats.

Hartington-Newcastle's victory bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Randolph, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-8.

Randolph ended up a good deal behind Hartington-Newcastle when the teams last played back in January of 2022, losing 53-34. Can Randolph avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.