Preview: Sandhills Valley Mavericks vs. Mullen Broncos
Sandhills Valley is 0-6 against Mullen since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Sandhills Valley Mavericks will be staying on the road to face off against the Mullen Broncos on February 8th. Sandhills Valley comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 14 points in their last four games, a trend the squad is of course eager to reverse.
On Tuesday, Sandhills Valley took a serious blow against Cozad, falling 53-10. Sandhills Valley was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 39-5.
Meanwhile, Mullen's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their third straight loss. They took a 43-38 hit to the loss column at the hands of Sandhills/Thedford. While losing is never fun, Mullen can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 239th, while Sandhills/Thedford is ranked 84th).
The losing side was boosted by Peyton Paxton, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds and four steals. She hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Georgia Wingebach, who scored five points along with three steals.
Sandhills Valley dropped their record down to 0-18 with that defeat, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Mullen, they have been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-11 record this season.
Sandhills Valley couldn't quite finish off Mullen in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 and fell 41-38. Can Sandhills Valley avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
