Basketball Game Preview: Rutherford Rams vs. Fort Walton Beach Vikings

The Rutherford Rams are taking a road trip to challenge the Fort Walton Beach Vikings at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Rutherford comes in on 16 and Fort Walton Beach on four.

On Tuesday, Rutherford strolled past Marianna with points to spare, taking the game 66-49. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 54th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 324th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Fort Walton Beach played in conference for the first time on Monday and they got just the result they we're looking for. They took down Pensacola 45-31.

Rutherford's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-2. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.6 points per game. As for Fort Walton Beach, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-8 record this season.

Rutherford was able to grind out a solid victory over Fort Walton Beach in their previous meeting on January 10th, winning 59-52. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Fort Walton Beach's Alexis Smith, who posted 20 points. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Rutherford still be able to contain Smith? There's only one way to find out.