The Bucklin Red Aces will head out on the road to challenge the Hodgeman County Longhorns at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Bucklin will be strutting in after a win while the Longhorns will be coming in after a loss.
Last Tuesday, Bucklin beat the Bulldogs 57-49. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Bucklin.
Bucklin's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Emmerson Kirk, who scored 14 points along with four steals. Sydnie Jones was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Hodgeman County has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took a 62-45 bruising from South Gray on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Hodgeman County can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 68th, while the Rebels are ranked 14th).
Bucklin has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-3 record this season. As for Hodgeman County, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 9-5.
Bucklin beat the Longhorns 69-60 in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bucklin since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
