Hutchinson is on a seven-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Derby is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Hutchinson Salthawks will take on the Derby Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Hutchinson beat Eisenhower 37-31. That's two games straight that Hutchinson has won by exactly six points.
Meanwhile, Derby stacked a fourth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They blew past South 58-37. Given Derby's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 29th, while South is ranked 125th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Hutchinson's victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 9-5. As for Derby, their win bumped their record up to 11-2.
Hutchinson came up short against Derby when the teams last played two weeks ago, falling 55-43. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Derby's Macayla Askew, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Now that Hutchinson knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
