Basketball Game Preview: Smith Valley Bulldogs vs. Pyramid Lake Lakers

Smith Valley has won five straight games at home, while Pyramid Lake has won five straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Thursday. The Smith Valley Bulldogs just played last yesterday, but they'll still welcome the Pyramid Lake Lakers at 6:00 p.m. The two teams are at an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2017, but likely not for long.

On Wednesday, Smith Valley took their contest with ease, bagging a 50-15 victory over Sierra Sage Academy/Right Of Passage. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Pyramid Lake faced North Valleys in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Monday. Pyramid Lake snuck past North Valleys with a 57-51 win.

The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Kaitlin Mandell and Ivy Williams. Mandell had a great game and went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc on her way to 20 points and five steals. Meanwhile, Williams was balling out in the loss, dropping a double-double on 21 points and 19 rebounds.

Pyramid Lake is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 15 games, which provided a nice bump to their 20-5 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 40.1 points. As for Smith Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 14-6.

Smith Valley took a serious blow against Pyramid Lake in their previous meeting back in January, falling 69-9. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Smith Valley was down 40-8.