The Hodgeman County Longhorns waltzed into their game on Tuesday with three straight wins but they left with four. They took down Minneola 68-54. Given Hodgeman County's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 89th, while Minneola is ranked 203rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Owen Reece was his usual excellent self, scoring 32 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. That makes it ten consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Hodgeman County's points. Ian Reece was another key contributor, scoring five points along with ten rebounds and six assists.
Minneola's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Eli Lang, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 13 rebounds. Lang is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Julian Miramontes, who scored 16 points.
Hodgeman County has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-2 record this season. As for Minneola, their loss was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 4-6.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Hodgeman County will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on South Gray at 8:00 p.m. on January 30th. South Gray knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past ten matches -- so hopefully Hodgeman County likes a good challenge. Minneola will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Satanta at 8:00 p.m. on January 30th. Satanta is coming into the match on a three-game losing streak.
