Heritage Christian hasn't had much luck against Lake Country Lutheran recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Heritage Christian Patriots will head out to face off against the Lake Country Lutheran Lightning at 7:15 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Having struggled with four losses in a row, Heritage Christian turned things around against St. Francis on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 75-73 victory over the Mariners.
Heritage Christian found their leader in sophomore Chase Porter, who went 7 for 15 on his way to 17 points in addition to eight rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Draeger, who posted ten points and seven assists.
Heritage Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in six consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Lake Country Lutheran's undefeated season came to an end after four games on Tuesday. They fell to Lakeside Lutheran 67-63. The matchup marked the Lightning's lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Heritage Christian will need focus on slowing down Will Sivak, one of several Lake Country Lutheran players who made an impact when they last played. He went 6 of 15 on his way to 16 points along with six rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacob Burow, who went 7 of 13 on his way to 19 points and three steals.
Heritage Christian's win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 3-4. As for Lake Country Lutheran, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 4-1.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Heritage Christian hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 66 points per game. However, it's not like Lake Country Lutheran struggles in that department as they've been averaging 77.6 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Heritage Christian was able to grind out a solid victory over Lake Country Lutheran in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, winning 77-66. The rematch might be a little tougher for Heritage Christian since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
