Basketball Game Preview: Wauneta-Palisade Broncos vs. Bertrand Vikings

The Wauneta-Palisade Broncos will venture away from home to face off against the Bertrand Vikings at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.

Wauneta-Palisade is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against South Platte two weeks ago (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Wauneta-Palisade might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting South Platte an easy 71-47 victory. The Broncos haven't had much luck with the Blue Knights recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.

Wauneta-Palisade's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Aden Acton, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds, and Ashton Wheeler, who posted 16 points. That was a full 34% of Wauneta-Palisade's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's put up more than a third of the team's points.

Meanwhile, Bertrand was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 59-55 to Arcadia/Loup City. The Vikings have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Wauneta-Palisade will need focus on slowing down Thunder Nelson, one of several Bertrand players who made an impact when they last played. He went 10 of 25 on his way to 25 points along with six rebounds and three steals. The dominant performance gave Nelson a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Eric Wood, who went 5 of 6 on his way to 13 points.

Even though they lost, Bertrand was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Wauneta-Palisade's defeat dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Bertrand, their loss dropped their record down to 5-4.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Wauneta-Palisade has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 23.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Bertrand struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.