Basketball Preview: East Thunderbirds vs. Campbell County Camels
East has enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they'll head out on the road. They and the Campbell County Camels will face off at 6:00 p.m. on February 9th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
East stacked a ninth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Saturday. They blew past Natrona County 51-29. Given East's advantage in MaxPreps' Wyoming basketball rankings (they are ranked fourth, while the Mustangs are ranked 40th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Campbell County had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.8 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Saturday. They enjoyed a cozy 61-45 victory over Laramie.
Campbell County's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lauren Kuhbacher, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds. It was the first time this season that Kuhbacher scored 15 or more points. Onna Castellanos was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with two steals.
East's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-2. As for Campbell County, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season.
East beat the Camels 67-58 in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for East since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
