After flying high against the Tiospaye Topa Thunderhawks on Thursday, the Harding County Ranchers came back down to earth. Harding County was the victim of a rough 72-51 defeat at the hands of Hettinger/Scranton on Friday. Harding County was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Hettinger/Scranton apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in January of 2023.
When it comes to explaining why Harding County lost, one person who can't be blamed is Nayati Bickerdyke. Despite the final result, he almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Bickerdyke has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Cohen Smith, who scored seven points.
Harding County dropped their record down to 8-10 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road. As for Hettinger/Scranton, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 6-10.
Harding County will be playing at home against Hulett at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Harding County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 21 on Friday. As for Hettinger/Scranton, they will head out on the road to take on Flasher at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Flasher's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last six matchups.
