Preview: Washburn Rural Blues vs. Hayden Wildcats
Washburn Rural is 9-1 against Hayden since February of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Washburn Rural Blues will be playing at home against the Hayden Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Washburn Rural unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell 63-55 to Junction City. While losing is never fun, Washburn Rural can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 79th, while Junction City is ranked 12th).
Loss or not, Washburn Rural got some senior leadership from Griffin Durst and JC Heim. Durst scored 18 points, while Heim. dropped a double-double on ten points and 12 rebounds. Durst continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was John Hoytal, who scored ten points.
Meanwhile, Hayden's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their 11th straight defeat. They suffered a tough 50-24 loss at the hands of Emporia. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Hayden in their matchups with Emporia: they've now lost six in a row.
Washburn Rural's loss dropped their record down to 7-9. As for Hayden, they dropped their record down to 4-12 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road.
Everything came up roses for Washburn Rural against Hayden in their previous matchup back in January as the squad secured a 62-29 victory. Will Washburn Rural repeat their success, or does Hayden have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
