Basketball Game Preview: Live Oak Lions vs. Lindhurst Blazers

The Live Oak Lions will wrap up 2024 with a road trip to face off against the Lindhurst Blazers at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.

Live Oak's tournament run continued when they took on Rio Vista two weeks ago. Live Oak took a 44-32 hit to the loss column at the hands of Rio Vista.

Meanwhile, Lindhurst waltzed into their game on Friday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They came out on top against the Explorers by a score of 28-17. While the Blazers didn't have the best season last year (they finished 1-26), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Live Oak better focus on containing Danaya Stephens and Ashlynn Wheeler as the pair were huge in Lindhurst's win. Stephens posted 12 points, while Wheeler put up 11 points. That makes it three consecutive games in which Stephens has scored at least a third of Lindhurst's points.

Lindhurst's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-3. Those victories didn't necessarily come from the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 29.8 points per game. As for Live Oak, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.

Live Oak came up short against Lindhurst in their previous matchup on December 5th, falling 41-30. Can Live Oak avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.