Basketball Game Preview: Smoky Valley Vikings vs. Halstead Dragons

The Smoky Valley Vikings will head out to take on the Halstead Dragons at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Smoky Valley has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with four straight defeats, while Halstead will come in with five straight victories.

Last Tuesday, Smoky Valley ended up a good deal behind Hesston and lost 60-42. That's two games in a row now that the Vikings have lost by exactly 18 points.

Meanwhile, Halstead was able to grind out a solid win over Hillsboro on Tuesday, taking the game 37-28. The 37-point effort marked the Dragons' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Smoky Valley's loss dropped their record down to 0-3. As for Halstead, their victory was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-0.

Smoky Valley skirted past Halstead 50-47 in their previous meeting back in February. The rematch might be a little tougher for Smoky Valley since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.