The Southwest Roughriders were the 45-35 winner over the Bertrand Vikings when they last played one another back in January of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Southwest took a 47-40 hit to the loss column at the hands of Bertrand on Friday.
Despite the loss, Southwest saw an underclassman step up: Houston Billeter scored 16 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. That's the first time this season that Billeter pulled down eight or more rebounds. Another player making a difference was Nathan Rippe, who scored five points along with three steals.
Bertrand found their leader in underclassman Thunder Nelson, who scored 22 points along with four steals. Scott Bieker was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with seven rebounds.
Southwest's loss was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 4-9. As for Bertrand, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 5-6 record this season.
Southwest won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] on January 13th. Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood] is coming into the game on a four-game losing streak. Bertrand won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Overton at 5:00 p.m. on January 13th. Hopefully Overton focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 last Saturday.
