The Haven Wildcats and the Hesston Swathers will face off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday without much rest, having both just played. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Haven took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past Larned, posting a 65-21 victory. The win continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Indians: they've now won seven in a row.
Meanwhile, Hesston came tearing into Thursday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21.7 points), and they left with even more momentum. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Panthers 67-29. Given the Swathers' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 28th, while the Panthers are ranked 278th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Hesston's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-2. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.2 points over those games. As for Haven, their win bumped their record up to 16-2-1.
Haven beat Hesston 45-38 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Hesston's Reed Friesen, who went 8-for-11 to rack up 20 points and seven rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Haven still be able to contain Friesen? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
