Banner County has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Hay Springs Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Banner County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 21 on Thursday.
Last Thursday, Banner County was the victim of a tough 72-50 defeat at the hands of Cody-Kilgore.
Nathan McGowan put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored ten points along with seven rebounds and six steals. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last six times he's played. Another player making a difference was Jacob Parsons, who scored 20 points.
Meanwhile, Hay Springs is still undefeated this season after their match against Crawford on Tuesday, but Crawford came as close as anyone has to beating them. Hay Springs narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Crawford 50-48. Given Hay Springs' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 47th, while Crawford is ranked 153rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Banner County's loss dropped their record down to 1-7. As for Hay Springs, their win was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-0.
Banner County was taken down by Hay Springs 73-36 in their previous meeting back in December of 2022. Can Banner County avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
