Basketball Game Preview: Buena Vista Demons vs. Lamar Thunder

Buena Vista is 2-8 against Lamar since January of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The two teams will compete for holiday cheer at 3:00 p.m. Buena Vista will be strutting in after a win while Lamar will be coming in after a defeat.

Buena Vista is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They really took it to Lake County for the full four quarters, racking up a 53-19 victory. The win continues a trend for the Demons in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now won four in a row.

Adeline Smith

Points (Career)

12/16/25 @ Lake County	11
12/06/24 vs Del Norte	8
12/05/25 @ Del Norte	7
02/13/25 @ James Irwin	7
12/09/25 @ Gunnison	6

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Buena Vista to victory, but perhaps none more so than Adeline Smith, who almost dropped a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. Those 11 points gave Smith a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Liz Molitor, who dropped a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Buena Vista was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Lamar took a blow against Jefferson Academy on Saturday, falling 45-12.

Mireya Gomez was the Thunder's leading scorer, having posted eight points. Lexie Lubbers took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with three assists.

Buena Vista's victory bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Lamar, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Buena Vista has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27 boards per game. However, it's not like Lamar struggles in that department as they've been averaging 22.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Buena Vista came up short against Lamar when the teams last played back in December of 2024, falling 26-14. Can the Demons avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.