Basketball Game Preview: Hershey Panthers vs. Cozad Haymakers

Hershey is 9-1 against Cozad since February of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Panthers are taking a road trip to face off against the Haymakers at 5:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

While Panthers fans will have to keep waiting for their squad to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Thursday's season opener. They came out on top against Perkins County by a score of 56-45 on Thursday.

Kenna Bringewatt

Points (Career)

12/04/25 @ Perkins County	16
01/10/25 @ Maxwell	14
01/02/25 vs Broken Bow	11
12/05/24 vs Perkins County	11
01/24/25 vs Chase County	10

Kenna Bringewatt and Lexi Pinkerton were among the main playmakers for Hershey as the former went 7-for-12 on her way to 16 points and six assists and the latter shot 83% from the field to rack up 13 points along with eight boards and five assists. Those 16 points gave Bringewatt a new career-high. Ryleigh Melvin was another key player, putting up five points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

They weren't the only ones working in the assist department: Hershey was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. They racked up eight more assists than Perkins County's also-impressive total of 12.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Cozad beat Maxwell 50-46 on Saturday.

Cozad's win came from a few key players Hershey will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Braelyn Malcom, who posted nine points and seven boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Briley Fisher, who earned ten points.

Hershey strolled past Cozad when the teams last played back in December of 2024 by a score of 54-38. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.