The North Central Knights will square off against the Boyd County Spartans at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully North Central focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Monday.
Last Monday, North Central was beaten by Ainsworth 69-41. While losing is never fun, North Central can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 208th, while Ainsworth is ranked 67th).
North Central's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jackson Hallock, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds and two steals, and Kol Otten who scored 15 points. Hallock is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played.
Meanwhile, Boyd County struggled with assists on Friday (Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] had seven more) and sadly the final score reflected it. The game between Boyd County and Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard] wasn't particularly close, with Boyd County falling 54-38. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Boyd County in their matchups with Summerland [Clearwater/Ewing/Orchard]: they've now lost four in a row.
The losing side was boosted by Derris Hansen, who scored 22 points along with six rebounds and five assists. That was a full 57.9% of Boyd County's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Issac Jensen, who scored seven points.
This is the second loss in a row for North Central and nudges their season record down to 8-11. Boyd County's record now sits at 8-11.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: North Central have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Boyd County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
North Central came up short against Boyd County in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, falling 53-46. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hansen, who scored 20 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Now that North Central knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
