With a playoff win on the line, Harding County rose to the challenge on Thursday. They breezed past the DeSmet Bulldogs to the tune of 65-32. The Ranchers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 contests by 21 points or more this season.
Leading Harding County to victory were Bailey Rae Verhulst and Brayden Padden. Rae Verhulst shot 62% from the field to rack up 22 points in addition to six steals and five rebounds, while Padden dropped a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards. Rae Verhulst has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 31 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Macey Wendt, who posted six points along with eight boards and three steals.
Ranchers
| 03/06/25 vs DeSmet | 65-32 |
| 02/27/25 vs Faith | 61-28 |
| 02/25/25 vs Dupree | 62-12 |
| 02/21/25 vs Edgemont | 61-24 |
| 02/20/25 vs Philip | 71-39 |
| + 16 more games |
The victory keeps them at an undefeated 21-0. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.0 points over those games. As for DeSmet, with the defeat, they broke their five-game winning streak and moved their record to 16-8.
Coming up, Harding County will face off against St. Mary at 6:00 p.m. on March 13th. St. Mary will roll in looking for their fourth straight win, something Harding County surely won't give up without a fight. DeSmet does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
