Basketball Game Preview: Carlisle Thundering Herd vs. Cumberland Valley Eagles

Carlisle hasn't had much luck against Cumberland Valley recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Carlisle Thundering Herd will challenge the Cumberland Valley Eagles at 7:30 p.m.

Carlisle will head into Friday's match out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Friday. They were outmatched by Chambersburg and fell 73-46. The Thundering Herd were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 42-17.

Meanwhile, Cumberland Valley had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.8 points) and they went ahead and made it 11 on Saturday. They blew past the Millionaires 66-30. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.

Cumberland Valley's win came from a few key players Carlisle will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Nolan Buzalka, who went 6 for 11 on his way to 17 points in addition to eight boards and three steals. He has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last ten times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jared Dolimpio, who went 7 of 9 on his way to 19 points.

Cumberland Valley's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-2. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.3 points per game. As for Carlisle, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-4.

Carlisle came up short against Cumberland Valley in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, falling 63-54. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Buzalka, who almost dropped a double-double on 26 points and nine boards. Now that Carlisle knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.