Preview: Burwell Longhorns vs. North Central Knights
Burwell is 1-8 against North Central since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Burwell Longhorns will square off against the North Central Knights at 7:30 p.m. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are closely ranked in Nebraska (Burwell is ranked 163rd, while North Central is ranked 141st).
Burwell waltzed into their matchup on Friday with two straight wins but they left with three. They strolled past Heartland Lutheran with points to spare, taking the game 43-26. Burwell pushed the score to 39-18 by the end of the third, a deficit Heartland Lutheran cut but never quite recovered from.
Kaitlyn Simpson went supernova for Burwell, dropping a double-double on 15 points and 16 rebounds. It was the first time this season that Simpson scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaitlyn Hughes, who scored eight points along with five assists and four steals.
Meanwhile, North Central suffered their closest loss since December 29, 2023 on Thursday. They fell just short of Valentine by a score of 39-36.
North Central's defeat came about despite a quality game from Morgan Lewis, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds and five steals. Another player making a difference was Karlene Kepler, who scored eight points.
Even though they lost, North Central smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Valentine only pulled down ten offensive rebounds.
Burwell has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season. As for North Central, they have not been sharp recently as the team has lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 11-9 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Burwell have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like North Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Burwell lost to North Central on the road by a decisive 45-26 margin in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. Can Burwell avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
