Basketball Game Preview: Jefferson Hawks vs. Prairie Hawks

Jefferson is 1-9 against Prairie since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. We've got a battle between Hawks coming up. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Jefferson is headed into Thursday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Tuesday. They were three points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 67-64 heartbreaker at the hands of Iowa City. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Hawks have suffered since December 7, 2024.

Meanwhile, Prairie blew past Washington, posting a 77-38 victory. Given the Hawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Iowa basketball rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Warriors are ranked 138th), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Prairie has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.0 points over those games. As for Jefferson, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-16.

Jefferson suffered a grim 86-65 defeat to Prairie in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. Can Jefferson avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.