The Elm Creek Buffaloes can now show off seven landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Tuesday. They breezed by Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] on the road to the tune of 64-32. Given Elm Creek's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 69th, while Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] is ranked 266th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Elm Creek's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ashley Bauer led the charge by scoring 18 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Halle Knapp was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Despite the loss, Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] saw an underclassman step up: Bentley Stubbs scored nine points along with eight rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Shelby Jurjens, who scored four points along with nine rebounds.
Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Elm Creek racked up 16 assists.
Elm Creek's victory was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-5. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.0 points per game. As for Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood], they have not been sharp recently as the team's lost 14 of their last 15 matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-19 record this season.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Elm Creek's road trip will continue as they head out to face Amherst at 6:00 p.m. on February 9th. Hopefully Elm Creek focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Tuesday. As for Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood], they will head out on the road to challenge South Loup on Friday. Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
