Basketball Game Preview: Gallia Academy Blue Devils vs. Vinton County Vikings

The Gallia Academy Blue Devils will be taking part in a tournament against the Vinton County Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.

For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last four times Gallia Academy and Dawson-Bryant have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Wednesday. The Blue Devils were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 53-52 to the Hornets. The loss continues a trend for the Blue Devils in their meetings with the Hornets: they've now lost three in a row.

Mallory Petro

Steals

01/07/26 @ Eastern	9
12/16/25 @ South Point	9
02/11/26 @ Dawson-Bryant	5
01/02/26 @ Ironton	5
11/21/25 @ Warren	5
+ 16 more games

Gallia Academy might have lost, but man, Mallory Petro was a machine: she posted 21 points along with five rebounds and five steals. Petro is becoming a predictor of the Blue Devils' success: when she posts at least three steals the team is 8-4 (and 4-6 when she doesn't). Another player making a difference was Aftyn Graham, who put up 12 points and five assists.

Meanwhile, Vinton County suffered their biggest defeat since December 1, 2025 on Wednesday. They had to suffer through a 70-33 loss at the hands of Athens. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 360th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 142nd).

Gallia Academy's loss dropped their record down to 12-10. As for Vinton County, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-8.

Gallia Academy didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Vinton County in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 44-39 victory. Do the Blue Devils have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Vikings turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.