Basketball Game Preview: Holdrege Dusters vs. Valentine

The Holdrege Dusters will head out to square off against Valentine at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Holdrege has been dominant on offense recently, having racked up an incredible 260 points over their last three contests.

Holdrege is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Phillipsburg 103-51 on Tuesday. The Dusters have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 20 points or more this season.

Holdrege's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Garret Johnson, who went 8 of 10 from beyond the arc en route to 36 points. Johnson's evening made it 11 games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brycen Samuelson, who went 12 of 16 on his way to 29 points and five assists.

Holdrege was working as a unit and finished the game with 29 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since the start of last season.

Meanwhile, Valentine entered their game against Minden on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Valentine fell to Minden 58-52. Valentine has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Holdrege has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 79.7 points per game. As for Valentine, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 5-5.

Holdrege took their win against Valentine in their previous matchup back in January of 2024 by a conclusive 69-43. The rematch might be a little tougher for Holdrege since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.