vs
| 01/20/25 - Away | 43-56 L |
| 02/16/24 - Away | 57-49 W |
| 01/16/24 - Away | 56-30 W |
| 02/17/23 - Home | 50-46 W |
| 02/18/22 - Away | 57-46 W |
| + 2 more games |
Hill City has gone 6-1 against Russell recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Hill City Ringnecks will be playing at home against the Russell Broncos at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Hill City is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Thunder Ridge: they outscored them in every quarter. Hill City was the clear victors by a 58-32 margin over Thunder Ridge on Monday. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Ringnecks had established a 21 point advantage.
Hill City's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Carson Keith led the charge by going 8-for-17 en route to 22 points and six rebounds. That makes it six consecutive games in which Keith has scored at least a third of Hill City's points. Vincent Zohner was another key player, putting up eight points in addition to ten boards and four blocks.
Hill City was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Russell was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Friday as they fell 77-71 to Trego. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Tuesday (64), the Broncos still had to take the loss.
Hill City will have to keep a close watch on Sam Thielen and Trey Carlson, a pair of players who had a big impact on Russell's prior game. Thielen posted 22 points, while Carlson went 7-for-9 on his way to 17 points and five rebounds. Those 22 points gave Thielen a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Dominick Hernandez, who put up seven points along with six boards and three steals.
Russell has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which has put a noticeable dent in their 9-9 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.5 points over those games. As for Hill City, their victory bumped their record up to 7-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Hill City has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Russell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Hill City came up short against Russell when the teams last played back in January, falling 56-43. Will Hill City have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
