Basketball Recap: Central Plains' Higher State Rank on Full Display on Monday

Central Plains lost to Nickerson back in January of 2023, but they didn't allow them the same satisfaction on Monday. The Central Plains Oilers strolled past the Nickerson Panthers with points to spare, taking the game 51-35. Given the Oilers' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 77th, while the Panthers are ranked 287th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Nickerson lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Alex King, who posted eight points and three steals. Those three steals gave King a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Austin Peterson, who scored five points along with five boards and four steals.

Central Plains has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.3 points per game. As for Nickerson, they dropped their record down to 1-8 with the defeat, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season.

Central Plains will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against Otis-Bison at 7:00 p.m. on February 4th. As for Nickerson, they will be taking part in a tournament against Larned at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.