Basketball Game Preview: Tri-Valley Bears vs. O'Neill Raiders

The Tri-Valley Bears will challenge the O'Neill Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Tri-Valley's defense has only allowed 29.5 points per game this season, so O'Neill's offense will have their work cut out for them.

Tri-Valley made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Sullivan West, but they still couldn't quite topple them. Tri-Valley took their contest on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 40-11 win over Sullivan West. The Bears have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 22 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, O'Neill had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They walked away with a 42-34 victory over Onteora on Tuesday.

Tri-Valley is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 24.8 points. O'Neill's win bumped their record up to 13-6.

Tri-Valley beat O'Neill 47-34 in their previous matchup two weeks ago. The rematch might be a little tougher for Tri-Valley since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.