Basketball Game Preview: Horizon Hawks vs. Bartow Yellow Jackets

The Horizon Hawks will take on the Bartow Yellow Jackets on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Horizon has three straight wins, Bartow has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Horizon is headed into the match having just posted their biggest victory since January 9th on Friday. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 48-18 win over Evans. The Hawks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten games by 24 points or more this season.

Horizon can attribute much of their success to Kassandra Cortez, who went 6 of 11 en route to 14 points along with five steals and three blocks, and Sofia Duque, who posted eight points and four steals. What's more, Duque also racked up four assists, the most she's had since back in November of 2024. Another player making a difference was Sienna Astorino, who scored seven points.

Meanwhile, Bartow played a tough matchup on Thursday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were beaten by Mulberry 55-24. While losing is never fun, the Yellow Jackets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 547th, while the Panthers are ranked 108th).

Horizon's victory bumped their record up to 15-8. As for Bartow, their loss dropped their record down to 2-19.