The Winside Wildcats will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Osmond/Randolph Hawks at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for Winside and ten for Osmond/Randolph dating back to last season.
Last Tuesday, Winside lost to Lyons-Decatur Northeast on the road by a decisive 41-26 margin.
Despite the defeat, Winside saw an underclassman step up: Hadleigh Schutt dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds. Schutt is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as she's now pulled down eight or more in the last three games she's played.
Meanwhile, Osmond/Randolph struggled with assists on Thursday (Elkhorn Valley had nine more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Osmond/Randolph took a serious blow against Elkhorn Valley, falling 52-10. Osmond/Randolph was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 34-7.
Despite the loss, Osmond/Randolph had strong showings from Keli Aschoff, who scored five points along with four steals, and Sophie Gansebom, who scored no points.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Osmond/Randolph struggled to work together and finished the game with only two assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Winside bumped their record down to 1-6 with that loss, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 22.0 points per game. Osmond/Randolph's record now sits at 0-7.
Friday's game is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Winside have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 30 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Osmond/Randolph, though, as they've been averaging only 28.4 rebounds per game. Given Winside's sizeable advantage in that area, Osmond/Randolph will need to find a way to close that gap.
Winside and Osmond/Randolph were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in January, but Winside came up empty-handed after a 27-26 loss. Can Winside avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
