Basketball Game Preview: Lake View Wild Gators vs. Latta Vikings

After both having extra time off, the Lake View Wild Gators and the Latta Vikings will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Lake View has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while Latta will arrive with three straight wins.

Two weeks ago, Lake View was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 35-30 to Dillon Christian.

Meanwhile, Latta took their game last Friday with ease, bagging a 58-24 victory over Green Sea Floyds. The Vikings have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 26 points or more this season.

Latta's win came from a few key players Lake View will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jeziyah Page, who went 8 for 14 on her way to 18 points in addition to seven steals and five assists. Those seven steals gave her a new career-high. Kaliya Herman was another key player, dropping a double-double on 17 points and ten assists.

Latta was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 0 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 8.1.

Latta's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-5. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 21.0 points per game. As for Lake View, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-5.

Lake View was dealt a bruising 58-12 loss at the hands of Latta in their previous matchup on January 9th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Herman, who posted 16 points along with seven boards and seven steals. Now that Lake View knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.