Heartland Lutheran is 0-9 against the Longhorns since February of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Heartland Lutheran Red Hornets will look to defend their home court against the Burwell Longhorns at 6:00 p.m.
Heartland Lutheran unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Saturday. They took a hard 48-31 fall against Fullerton.
Despite the defeat, Heartland Lutheran had strong showings from Ema Koch, who scored 14 points along with three steals, and Ella Francl, who scored six points along with 11 rebounds and four steals. Francl hasn't dropped below two steals for five straight games. Brielle Saddler was another key contributor, scoring six points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Burwell beat the Eagles 39-33 on Saturday.
Heartland Lutheran's defeat dropped their record down to 8-12. As for Burwell, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 12-8 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Heartland Lutheran have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Burwell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.5 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Heartland Lutheran was dealt a bruising 62-20 loss at the hands of the Longhorns in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. The matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Heartland Lutheran was down 39-9.
