The Tri County Northeast Wolfpack are on the road again on Friday and plays the Winnebago Indians at 6:00 p.m. on February 9th. Hopefully Tri County Northeast focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 28 on Tuesday.
Tri County Northeast struggled with assists on Tuesday (Bancroft-Rosalie had seven more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Tri County Northeast was the victim of a rough 63-39 defeat at the hands of Bancroft-Rosalie. While losing is never fun, Tri County Northeast can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 220th, while Bancroft-Rosalie is ranked 92nd).
Despite their loss, Tri County Northeast saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Mica Tornez, who scored four points along with two steals, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Briley Anderson, who scored three points.
Meanwhile, in a tight contest that could have gone either way, Winnebago made off with a 43-42 victory over Wakefield.
Winnebago can attribute much of their success to Jolon Blackbird, who scored 14 points along with three steals, and Tressa BigBear, who scored 16 points along with three blocks and two steals. BigBear has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last five times she's played.
Tri County Northeast dropped their record down to 5-12 with that defeat, which was their fifth straight on the road. As for Winnebago, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-10 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Tri County Northeast have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Winnebago struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.1 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Tri County Northeast came up short against Winnebago in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, falling 37-29. Can Tri County Northeast avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
