After a string of four wins, the Ainsworth Bulldogs's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They took a 64-52 hit to the loss column at the hands of Gothenburg. Ainsworth was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Gothenburg apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in February of 2023.
Ainsworth's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Carter Nelson, who scored 21 points along with seven rebounds and three blocks. That was a full 40.4% of Ainsworth's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Trey Appelt was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds.
Ainsworth's loss dropped their record down to 13-7. As for Gothenburg, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season.
Ainsworth will head out on the road to take on North Central at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. North Central will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Nebraska Rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while Ainsworth is ranked 65th). As for Gothenburg, they will look to defend their home court on Friday against Ogallala at 6:00 p.m. One thing working in Ogallala's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season.
