Basketball Game Preview: Hesston Swathers vs. Council Grove Braves

The Hesston Swathers will face off against the Council Grove Braves at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Hesston will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.

Hesston is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They strolled past Marysville with points to spare, taking the game 53-36. Given the Swathers' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 19th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 121st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Nemaha Central typically has all the answers at home, but on Wednesday Council Grove proved too difficult a challenge. They snuck past the Thunder with a 64-58 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Braves.

Hesston better keep an eye on Brycen Palmquist. He was instrumental in Council Grove's win, dropping a double-double with 24 points and ten steals. Those ten steals gave Palmquist a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Finn Gant, who shot 54% from the field on his way to 18 points and eight rebounds.

Hesston's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-2. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.6 points over those games. As for Council Grove, their victory bumped their record up to 14-8.