Basketball Game Preview: High Plains Storm vs. Nebraska Lutheran Knights

The High Plains Storm will head out on the road to take on the Nebraska Lutheran Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as High Plains comes in on five and Nebraska Lutheran on three.

High Plains is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Palmer 66-32 on Tuesday. The Storm have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matches by 26 points or more this season.

Gahvrielle Lesiak continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 8 for 9 on her way to 22 points. Those 22 points gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Courtney Carlstrom, who posted 11 points.

Meanwhile, Nebraska Lutheran strolled past East Butler with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 55-38.

Nebraska Lutheran's win came from a few key players High Plains will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Samantha Hueske, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 boards. She is becoming a predictor of Nebraska Lutheran's success: when she posts at least eight rebounds the team is 5-1 (and 1-2 when she doesn't). Rebecca Hueske was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds.

Nebraska Lutheran smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in three consecutive contests.

Nebraska Lutheran's victory bumped their record up to 6-3. As for High Plains, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season.

High Plains beat Nebraska Lutheran 50-42 in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for High Plains since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.