Basketball Game Preview: Eastpointe Shamrocks vs. Hazel Park Vikings

The Eastpointe Shamrocks will take on the Hazel Park Vikings at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Eastpointe is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 64-5 win over Lincoln. The victory was nothing new for the Shamrocks as they're now sitting on five straight.

Meanwhile, Hazel Park can bid farewell to their nine-game losing streak thanks to their game on Tuesday. They blew past Madison 59-26. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Vikings had established a 28 point advantage.

Eastpointe better keep an eye on Harmony Hays. She was instrumental in Hazel Park's win, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 15 assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Tangela Charleston, who posted 23 points and seven boards.

Hazel Park was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Eastpointe has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.8 points per game. As for Hazel Park, their win ended a six-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-10.

Everything went Eastpointe's way against Hazel Park when the teams last played on January 14th, as Eastpointe made off with a 60-39 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Charleston, who went 8 for 16 on her way to 26 points. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Eastpointe still be able to contain Charleston? There's only one way to find out.