Basketball Game Preview: Kearns Cougars vs. Cyprus Pirates

Two dominant guards in Kayden Stark and Koli Fosita are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Kearns Cougars will square off against the Cyprus Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Last Tuesday, Kearns was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 50-44 to Juan Diego Catholic. The Cougars have struggled against the Soaring Eagle recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.

Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Cyprus over Hunter in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Cyprus put the hurt on Hunter with a sharp 78-52 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Pirates.

Cyprus' win came from a few key players Kearns will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Harkaran Makhar, who went 8-for-12 en route to 21 points. Those 21 points gave him a new career-high. Fosita was another key player, going 7-for-11 on his way to 17 points.

Cyprus pushed their record up to 14-8 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 77.8 points over those games. As for Kearns, their loss dropped their record down to 12-10.

Kearns came out on top in a nail-biter against Cyprus in their previous meeting back in January, sneaking past 49-47. The rematch might be a little tougher for Kearns since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.