Having just played yesterday, the Heartland Mustangs will jump right back in to play the Miami Eagles at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. Given that the pair suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
Heartland has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell 51-41 to Midway on Wednesday. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Heartland came into the match with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 170th, while Midway is ranked 511th).
Despite the loss, Heartland got a solid performance out of Diego Martinez, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 13 rebounds. Those 13 rebounds set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Jackson Odom, who scored three points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, this season hasn't been kind to Miami, who are still winless after their fifth matchup. They took a 46-31 bruising from Jefferson Independent Day on December 8th.
Heartland's loss dropped their record down to 7-3. As for Miami, their loss was their third straight at home, which bumped their record down to 0-5.
Heartland strolled past Miami in their previous matchup back in December of 2022 by a score of 59-45. Will Heartland repeat their success, or does Miami have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
