After both having extra time off, the Ellis Railroaders and the Russell Broncos will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Two weeks ago, Ellis came up short against Ellinwood and fell 65-55. The Railroaders have struggled against the Eagles recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
| 12/20/24 @ Ellinwood | 19 |
| 12/17/24 @ Phillipsburg | 13 |
| 12/10/24 vs Rawlins County | 12 |
| 12/13/24 vs Logan/Palco | 7 |
| 12/14/24 @ Quinter | 2 |
Despite the defeat, Ellis saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Aiden Aschenbrenner went 7 for 12 on his way to 19 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Aschenbrenner has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaren Frickey, who posted 12 points.
Meanwhile, Russell was not able to break out of their rough patch two weeks ago as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They took a hard 62-44 fall against Norton. While losing is never fun, the Broncos can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while the Bluejays are ranked 74th).
Ellis will have to keep a close watch on Dominick Hernandez and Sam Thielen, a pair of players who had a big impact on Russell's prior game. Hernandez dropped a double-double on ten points and 13 rebounds, while Thielen put up nine points. Those 13 rebounds gave Hernandez a new career-high. Mason Rohr was another key player, putting up ten points.
Ellis' defeat dropped their record down to 3-3. As for Russell, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Ellis has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 31.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Russell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Ellis lost to Russell on the road by a decisive 62-45 margin in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. Can Ellis avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
