The Reed Point/Rapelje Renegades will head out on the road to square off against Custer/Hysham at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Reed Point/Rapelje has struggled recently with nine defeats in a row, while Custer/Hysham will arrive with nine straight wins.
Reed Point/Rapelje suffered their closest defeat yet this season on Saturday. They fell just short of Plenty Coups by a score of 56-53.
Reed Point/Rapelje's defeat came about despite a quality game from Axel Blodgett, who dropped a double-double on 26 points and 15 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Blodgett has scored all season. Marshall Ulmer was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
Even though they lost, Reed Point/Rapelje were working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Custer/Hysham was able to grind out a solid victory over Broadview/Lavina on Friday, taking the game 52-40. Given Custer/Hysham's advantage in MaxPreps' Montana basketball rankings (they are ranked 29th, while Broadview/Lavina is ranked 91st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Reed Point/Rapelje dropped their record down to 3-9 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Custer/Hysham, their victory bumped their record up to 9-0.
Things could have been worse for Reed Point/Rapelje, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 61-43 loss to Custer/Hysham when the teams last played back in December of 2023. Can Reed Point/Rapelje avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
