Preview: Nickerson Panthers vs. Hillsboro Trojans
Nickerson is 0-10 against Hillsboro since February of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Nickerson Panthers will be playing at home against the Hillsboro Trojans at 7:00 p.m. Nickerson will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Kansas Rankings (they are ranked 265th, while Hillsboro is ranked 131st).
Nickerson's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight defeat. They took a hard 61-45 fall against Pratt. Nickerson has not had much luck with Pratt recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.
Nickerson's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Taylor Engelland, who scored 22 points, and Austin Peterson who scored five points along with five rebounds. That was a full 48.9% of Nickerson's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Hillsboro beat Halstead 58-46 on Friday. The win made it back-to-back wins for Hillsboro.
Nickerson has not been sharp recently as the team has lost six of their last eight matches, which is still a better percentage than their 4-13 record this season. As for Hillsboro, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-7 record this season.
Nickerson was dealt a bruising 71-28 loss at the hands of Hillsboro when the teams last played back in February of 2023. Will Nickerson have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
