If Hill City was riding high fresh off their 73-27 takedown of Northern Valley on Monday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The contest between the Hill City Ringnecks and the Plainville Cardinals didn't end well, with the Hill City Ringnecks falling 68-54. While losing is never fun, the Ringnecks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 276th, while the Cardinals are ranked 110th).
| 01/14/25 @ Plainville | 31 |
| 02/19/24 @ Northern Valley | 26 |
| 02/16/24 @ Russell | 24 |
| 01/13/25 vs Northern Valley | 24 |
| 12/20/24 vs Hoxie | 21 |
When it comes to explaining why Hill City lost on Tuesday, don't look at Carson Keith. Despite the final result, he went 11 for 24 on his way to 31 points and three steals. The dominant performance gave Keith a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Vincent Zohner, who posted eight points along with 15 rebounds and three blocks.
Even though they lost, Hill City smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in five consecutive matches.
Hill City has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-5 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.2 points per game. As for Plainville, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 5-2.
When Hill City and Plainville next hit the court, they'll be up against teams who recently just can't seem to lose. Hill City will try to stop Smith Center's three-game winning streak when the meet at 7:30 p.m. on January 28th. Meanwhile, Plainville will challenge Trego and their three-game winning streak at 7:05 p.m. on January 31st.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
