Pawnee Heights has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Bucklin Red Aces at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Kansas (Pawnee Heights is ranked 213th, while Bucklin is ranked 234th).
Pawnee Heights' 15-7 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They took a 61-50 hit to the loss column at the hands of Minneola on Friday.
Despite the defeat, Pawnee Heights got a solid performance out of Clayton Hammeke, who scored 25 points along with six rebounds and four steals. Those 25 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Davin Hamby, who scored 16 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Bucklin beat Pretty Prairie 59-46 on Friday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Bucklin.
Bucklin's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kaden Tilley led the charge by scoring 15 points along with three steals and three blocks. That makes it four consecutive games in which Tilley has scored at least 25% of Bucklin's points. Kolson Cook was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Pawnee Heights' defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 2-4. As for Bucklin, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 3-3 record this season.
Tuesday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Pawnee Heights have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 24.2 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Bucklin, though, as they've been averaging only 28.2 rebounds per game. Given Pawnee Heights' sizeable advantage in that area, Bucklin will need to find a way to close that gap.
Pawnee Heights was able to grind out a solid win over Bucklin in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, winning 79-68. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Bucklin's Garin Stimpert, who scored 21 points. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for Pawnee Heights to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
