Hoxie is 8-2 against Hill City since January of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Hoxie Indians will be home for the holidays to greet the Hill City Ringnecks at 6:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Hoxie has four straight wins, Hill City has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Saturday, Hoxie faced Hodgeman County in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Hoxie blew past Hodgeman County 70-50. Fans of Hoxie have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season ended as a blowout.
Hoxie's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Emily Bainter, who scored 16 points along with nine rebounds, and Josey Kennedy, who scored 22 points along with three steals. That makes it four consecutive games in which Kennedy has scored at least 25% of Hoxie's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kinley Rogers, who scored seven points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Hill City had to suffer through a rough 45-10 loss at the hands of Decatur Community. Hill City has struggled against Decatur Community recently, as their matchup on Tuesday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Rylie Minium was Hill City's leading scorer, having posted six points.
Kamryn Mauck held things down on the boards with nine rebounds.
Hoxie pushed their record up to 4-0 with that win, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Hill City, their loss dropped their record down to 0-3.
Friday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy match: Hoxie have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 36.5 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Hill City, though, as they've been averaging only 23.3 rebounds per game. Given Hoxie's sizeable advantage in that area, Hill City will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Hoxie against Hill City when the teams last played back in February as the team secured a 58-21 victory. Will Hoxie repeat their success, or does Hill City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
