The LaCrosse Leopards will look to defend their home court on Thursday against the Hodgeman County Longhorns at 6:00 p.m. LaCrosse is coming into the match hot, having won their last 12 games.
In what's become a running theme this season, LaCrosse gave their fans yet another huge victory last Tuesday. They took their matchup on the road with ease, bagging a 64-31 win over Kinsley. Given LaCrosse's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 89th, while Kinsley is ranked 338th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
LaCrosse's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Caden Morgan led the charge by scoring 21 points along with eight assists. Morgan hasn't dropped below 21 points for three straight games. Conner Barriger was another key contributor, scoring 17 points.
Meanwhile, even though Spearville scored an imposing 55 points on Thursday, Hodgeman County still came out on top. Hodgeman County skirted past Spearville 57-55. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up seven more assists than your opponent, as Hodgeman County did.
Owen Reece was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 26 points and 11 rebounds. That makes it 21 consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Hodgeman County's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ian Reece, who scored 14 points along with five rebounds.
LaCrosse is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-2 record this season. As for Hodgeman County, their win bumped their record up to 13-8.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. LaCrosse hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 62.3 points per game. However, it's not like Hodgeman County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 60.6 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
LaCrosse won a match that couldn't have been any closer when the teams last played back in December of 2022, slipping by Hodgeman County 58-57. Does LaCrosse have another victory up their sleeve, or will Hodgeman County turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
