The Huss Huskies were the 65-61 winner over the Butler Bulldogs when they last played one another back in December of 2019, but their luck changed this time around. Huss fell 67-54 to Butler on Saturday. While losing is never fun, Huss can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 309th, while Butler is ranked 110th).
Despite the loss, Huss had strong showings from Zamarius 'Z-Man' Gladden, who scored 19 points along with nine rebounds and five steals, and Satchelle Pettis, who scored 15 points along with five assists and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Christian Barnette, who scored four points along with six rebounds and three blocks.
Butler was led to victory by Reece Starnes and Tyler Showalter. Starnes dropped a double-double on 16 points and 22 rebounds, while Showalter scored 25 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks. That makes it three consecutive games in which Showalter has scored at least a third of Butler's points. Terrance Badio was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with two steals.
Huss has not been sharp recently, as they've lost seven of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-9 record this season. As for Butler, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 9-6.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Huss and Stuart W. Cramer will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Hopefully Stuart W. Cramer focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Friday. As for Butler, they will head out on the road to square off against Sun Valley at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
