Harding County has been on the road for three straight, but on Thursday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Tiospaye Topa Thunderhawks at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Harding County can now show off 12 landslide victories after their most recent contest on Tuesday. They blew past Dupree 54-16 on the road. Given Harding County's advantage in MaxPreps' South Dakota basketball rankings (they are ranked 15th, while Dupree is ranked 119th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Harding County's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Macey Wendt, who scored 13 points along with five steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Wendt has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Kamry Padden, who scored seven points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Tiospaye Topa had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 37.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Dupree and snuck past 63-61. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Harding County's win was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-0. They've been dominating during the matches in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 27.5 points. As for Tiospaye Topa, their victory bumped their record up to 8-6.
Everything came up roses for Harding County against Tiospaye Topa when the teams last played back in February of 2023 as the squad secured a 62-19 victory. Will Harding County repeat their success, or does Tiospaye Topa have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
