Basketball Game Preview: Gibsonburg Golden Bears vs. Lakota Raiders

Gibsonburg and Lakota are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The Gibsonburg Golden Bears will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against the Lakota Raiders at 7:00 p.m. Gibsonburg will be strutting in after a victory while Lakota will be coming in after a loss.

Last Saturday, Gibsonburg earned a 43-35 win over Hopewell-Loudon. Given the Golden Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 277th, while the Chieftains are ranked 598th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Gibsonburg found their leader in sophomore Elly Evarts, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. Evarts has been hot, having also posted three or more steals the last five times she's played. Another player making a difference was Emily Henderson, who posted six points and five boards.

Gibsonburg smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in five consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Lakota unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Saturday. They took a 40-32 hit to the loss column at the hands of Danbury. While the Raiders didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Lakers 10-4 in the first quarter.

Gibsonburg has been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.0 points per game. As for Lakota, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-8.

Gibsonburg beat Lakota 53-41 in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. Does Gibsonburg have another victory up their sleeve, or will Lakota turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.