After flying high against the South Cougars last Friday, the Derby Panthers came back down to earth. Derby's rough 79-56 defeat to Maize South on Tuesday might stick with them for a while. Derby has not had much luck with Maize South recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Brayden Smith, who scored ten points. Those ten points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaden Franklin, who scored nine points along with six rebounds.
Derby now has a losing record at 2-3. As for Maize South, their win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0.
After both having extra time off, Derby and Haysville Campus will shake off the cobwebs and challenge one another at 7:30 p.m. on January 5, 2024. Haysville Campus presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Derby in Kansas (Haysville Campus is ranked 15th, while Derby is ranked 147th). Maize South will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Hutchinson at 7:30 p.m. on January 5, 2024. Hutchinson is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt want to keep things rolling.
