The North Central Knights struggled with assists on Monday (the Ainsworth Bulldogs had 14 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. North Central had to suffer through a rough 69-41 loss at the hands of Ainsworth. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for North Central in their matchups with Ainsworth: they've now lost four in a row.
North Central's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Jackson Hallock, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds and two steals, and Kol Otten who scored 15 points. Hallock is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played.
Ainsworth had a senior duo take command as Carter Nelson dropped a triple-double on 20 points, 15 rebounds, and ten assists and Trey Appelt dropped a double-double on 22 points and 11 rebounds. Appelt has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 20 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Witten Painter, who scored ten points.
North Central's defeat dropped their record down to 8-11. As for Ainsworth, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season.
North Central will head out on the road to challenge Stuart at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully North Central focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Monday. As for Ainsworth, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Bridgeport at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Bridgeport will roll in looking for their 12th straight win, something Ainsworth surely won't give up without a fight.
