By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

After giving up 33 points in the opening half, the Longhorns held a high-scoring Red Hornet team to just 17 second-half points in a 67-50 victory.

"We just tried to talk a little better," Burwell coach Garrett Mann said. "We lost our guys a couple of times. Then we rebounded better. They scored at least five baskets on offensive rebounds the first half. We got after them a little at half time to see if they wanted to play a little defense and they did."

The Longhorns (12-6) held the Red Hornets (9-8) to just six points in the third quarter as they built their lead to 52-39 heading into the final period.

"The third quarter I didn't recognize the team," Heartland Lutheran coach Lloyd Wagnitz said. "I don't know if we were tired or what, but we didn't play very well in the third quarter and that was the difference in the game."

Burwell's Derek Snyder played well the entire game. Snyder led the Longhorns with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. The 6-foot-1 junior also pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds.

"They have a very nice team," Wagnitz said. "Derek Snyder is a great ball player and they have a great nucleus around him. They play well together. They have a lot of quickness too."

Jacob Salter led Heartland Lutheran with 10 points, all coming in the second quarter. Those points helped the Red Hornets rebound from an early 15-2 deficit with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first quarter to take a lead midway through the second quarter.

"We started off shooting well," Mann said. "We might have started shooting too many 3-pointers, but then we got the ball going inside and outside that second half."

The Red Hornets trailed by just 35-33 at the half only to see the Longhorns grab control of the game in the third quarter.

"Maybe we took a lot of energy to regain that lead," Wagnitz said. "They just weren't falling in. We weren't playing very good defense either. We looked tired. I don't know why. We haven't played for a week."

Wagnitz said Burwell got way too many easy shots against the Red Hornets.

"It wasn't where we wanted it," Wagnitz said of his team's defense. "We had some goals that we didn't make tonight, but we have a game on Friday we're going to get ready for and then prepare ourselves for subdistricts."

Mann was happy to go on the road and get a win late in the season.

"They're a good team," Mann said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew it was going to be a battle. This time of year you want good, hard games like this."

BURWELL 67, HEARTLAND LUTHERAN 50

BURWELL (12-6)

Bird 3-10 2-2 10, Gurney 3-81-2 8, Holmquist 3-5 1-3 7, Reiter 6-9 2-2 14, Snyder 7-11 4-6 19, Maxson 1-2 1-2 3, Klimek 2-6 0-0 6, Gross 0-0 0-0 0, McMullen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 11-17 67.

HEARTLAND LUTHERAN (9-8)

Salter 4-14 0-0 10, Bartels 2-8 2-2 8, Wagnitz 3-11 0-0 8, A.Messersmith 0-1 3-5 3, Seim 1-2 0-0 2, J.Messersmith 3-5 0-0 6, Kreutzer 2-5 0-1 4, Kowalski 0-3 0-0 0, Paustian 0-0 0-0 0, Kirby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 6-9 50.

Burwell 17 18 17 1567

Heartland Lutheran 11 22 6 1150

3-point goalsBurwell 6-21 (Klimek 2-6, Bird 2-8, Maxson 1-1, Gurney 1-5). Heartland Lutheran 6-15 (Salter 2-5, Bartels 2-5, Wagnitz 2-5). Fouled outReiter, A.Messersmith. Rebounds Burwell 36 (Snyder 16). Heartland Lutheran 31 (Wagnitz 9). TurnoversBurwell 11, Heartland Lutheran 12. Total foulsBurwell 12, Heartland Lutheran 19. TechnicalsNone.

GIRLS

Burwell 59, HLHS 35

The Heartland Lutheran girls team was doing what coach Jerry Schenck wanted to see early in its game against Burwell.

The Red Hornets held an early 9-4 lead and Schenck said played pretty well for the entire first quarter. The second quarter was a different story.

Heartland Lutheran committed 12 turnovers in the second quarter and was outscored 13-4 as Burwell went on to a 59-35 victory.

"We had a good first quarter," Schenck said. "It seems like we have to have one quarter where we stop executing. The second quarter was it. We stopped executing, we stopped moving, we stopped rebounding. We could never get over that hump again."

Schenck said the turnover problem was nothing new for his team.

"We turned the ball over a lot," Schenck said. "We've been fighting that since the program has started. A lot of that is because of inexperience in the game of basketball.

"But I'm very proud of my girls. There are only two seniors on the team. They're going to come back next year and surprise a lot of people."

Shelby Steele came off the bench to lead Burwell (11-8) with 15 points. Ashley Gurney added 14 for the Longhorns.

Claire Mackey led the Red Hornets (3-15) with nine points. Meghann Uden had five points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Heartland Lutheran will open Class D-1, Subdistrict 5 play Monday night at Central City against Nebraska Christian. Schenck said the Red Hornets will be ready to go.

"I think the girls proved to me that they're ready for subdistricts," Schenck said.

BURWELL 59, HEARTLAND LUTHERAN 35

BURWELL (11-8)

Gumb 3-71-2 7, McMullen 1-7 0-0 2, Gurney 6-10 2-2 14, DeLashmutt 1-8 2-2 4, Hitchcock 2-3 2-2 6, Cassidy 2-6 4-7 8, Steele 6-9 3-6 15, Maxson 0-0 0-1 0, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Garner 1-1 1-2 3, Visconte-Beal 0-0 0-0 0, Brockman 0-0 0-2 0, Rowse 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 22-52 15-28 59.

HEARTLAND LUTHERAN (3-15)

C. Mackey 3-7 3-5 9, Norman 2-9 0-0 4, Rollen 2-11 1-2 6, Uden 2-4 1-4 5, Scholz 3-4 1-2 7, Bartels 1-7 0-0 3, Winsterman 0-2 1-2 1, Liess 0-1 0-0 0, A. Mackey 0-2 0-0 0, Dunn 0-2 0-0 0, Kirby 0-0 0-0 0, Bremer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-55 7-15 35.

Burwell 17 13 18 1159

Heartland Lutheran 11 4 11 935

3-Point goalsBurwell 0-1 (Gurney 0-1). Heartland Lutheran 2-10 (Bartels 1-4, Rollen 1-6). Fouled outNone. ReboundsBurwell 44 (Gumb 7, Steele 7). TurnoversBurwell 22, Heartland Lutheran 27. Total foulsBurwell 16, Heartland Lutheran 19. TechnicalsNone.