The Holyoke Dragons won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Friday. They were the victim of a tough 62-40 loss at the hands of Sedgwick County. While losing is never fun, Holyoke can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while the Cougars are ranked 25th).
When it comes to explaining why Holyoke lost, one person who can't be blamed is Audrey Talavera. Despite the final result, she scored 23 points along with six rebounds and five steals. That was a full 57.5% of Holyoke's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Ellie Kleve, who almost dropped a double-double on 12 points and nine rebounds.
Leading Sedgwick County to victory were Lainee Nein and Abigail Dille. Nein scored 18 points along with seven rebounds and six steals, while Dille scored 27 points. That makes it three consecutive games in which Dille has scored at least a third of Sedgwick County's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryen Carlson, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Holyoke's loss was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 4-10. As for Sedgwick County, the victory (which was their eighth in a row) raised their record to 13-1.
Holyoke won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against the Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on February 3rd. Heritage Christian's defense has only allowed 29.2 points per game this season, so the Dragons' offense will have their work cut out for them. As for Sedgwick County, they won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against the Rams at 2:00 p.m. on February 3rd. Merino is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune.
