Park Rapids has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Detroit Lakes Lakers at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Park Rapids knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past 11 games -- so hopefully the Lakers likes a good challenge.
Park Rapids pushed their score all the way to 60 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 68-60 to Crosby-Ironton. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Park Rapids in their matchups with the Rangers: they've now lost three in a row.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ryan Carroll, who scored 20 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Noah Morris, who scored 20 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, even though Fergus Falls scored an imposing 65 points on Saturday, Detroit Lakes still came out on top. Detroit Lakes walked away with a 76-65 victory over the Otters. Given Detroit Lakes' advantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 27th, while the Otters are ranked 174th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Park Rapids' defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 11-5. As for Detroit Lakes, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-2 record this season.
Park Rapids might still be hurting after the 74-49 loss they got from the Lakers in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. Can Park Rapids avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
