This season hasn't been kind to the Haxtun Fightin' Bulldogs, who are still winless after their seventh match. They fell 33-24 to Prairie on Friday. While losing is never fun, Haxtun can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 248th, while Prairie is ranked 95th).
Haxtun's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Bobbi Starkebaum, who scored eight points along with ten rebounds, and Kelsie Hadeen who scored eight points.
Even though they lost, Haxtun smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Prairie only pulled down nine offensive rebounds.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Prairie to victory, but perhaps none more so than Hannah Kugler, who scored 12 points along with three steals and two blocks. That makes it five consecutive games in which Kugler has scored at least a third of Prairie's points. Another player making a difference was Aubrey Shipman, who scored four points along with two steals.
Haxtun's loss dropped their record down to 0-7. As for Prairie, their win was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-2.
Haxtun won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Wiggins at 1:00 p.m. on January 6th. Hopefully Wiggins focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 16 on Friday. As for Prairie, they will head out on the road to square off against Twin Peaks Charter Academy at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Twin Peaks Charter Academy's defense has only allowed 24.7 points per game this season, so Prairie's offense will have their work cut out for them.
