Basketball Game Preview: Bellarmine Prep Lions vs. North Thurston Rams

The Bellarmine Prep Lions will challenge the North Thurston Rams at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

If Bellarmine Prep beats North Thurston with 65 points on Saturday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. Bellarmine Prep took down Lincoln 65-50 on Thursday. The win continues a trend for the Lions in their matchups with the Abes: they've now won eight in a row.

Meanwhile, North Thurston entered their tilt with Gig Harbor on Thursday with 20 consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with 21. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Tides 86-40. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' Washington basketball rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Tides are ranked 117th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

North Thurston's win came from a few key players Bellarmine Prep will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Soraya Ogaldez, who posted 34 points. Shayla Cordis was another key player, going 10 for 21 en route to 24 points.

North Thurston's victory was their 23rd straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 21-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.7 points over those games. As for Bellarmine Prep, their win bumped their record up to 18-5.

Things could have been worse for Bellarmine Prep, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 57-43 loss to North Thurston when the teams last played back in January. Can Bellarmine Prep avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.