Cross County and Twin River are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2017, but not for long. The Cross County Cougars will head out on the road to take on the Twin River Titans at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Cross County's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four contests.
If Cross County beats Twin River with 58 points on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Cross County enjoyed a cozy 58-39 win over Heartland on Saturday. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 37th, while the Huskies are ranked 203rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/11/25 @ Heartland | 4 |
| 01/09/25 vs Sutton | 2 |
| 01/03/25 @ Osceola | 1 |
| 01/02/25 vs Bruning-Davenport/Shickley | 4 |
| 12/30/24 @ Cozad | 1 |
Among those leading the charge was Sawyer Anderson, who went 5 of 7 en route to 12 points along with five boards and four steals. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. Another player making a difference was Thatcher Hanson, who posted eight points and six assists.
Cross County was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Heartland only racked up ten assists.
Meanwhile, Twin River lost to Aquinas on the road by a 65-48 margin on Tuesday. The Titans have struggled against the Monarchs recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Cross County will need focus on slowing down Colsten Rodriguez, one of several Twin River players who made an impact when they last played. He went 6 for 15 on his way to 18 points. Corbin Rodriguez was another key player, putting up 15 points and seven rebounds.
Cross County is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.3 points per game. As for Twin River, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Cross County has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 29.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Twin River struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Cross County was able to grind out a solid victory over Twin River in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, winning 68-60. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cross County since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
