Basketball Game Preview: Crystal City Hornets vs. Hancock Tigers

The Crystal City Hornets are taking a road trip to challenge the Hancock Tigers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Crystal City has three straight victories, Hancock has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Crystal City is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Kingston: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Crystal City blew Kingston out of the water with a 68-23 final score. The game marked the Hornets' most dominant win of the season.

Crystal City found their leader in freshman Addison Bova, who went 7 for 12 on her way to 16 points along with seven assists and six boards. Bova's evening made it three games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Molly Reiter, who went 5 of 10 en route to 14 points.

Crystal City smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Hancock lost 41-17 to Valley Park on Tuesday.

Hancock's loss dropped their record down to 2-7. As for Crystal City, they now have a winning record of 7-6.

Crystal City came out on top in a nail-biter against Hancock in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, sneaking past 39-36. The rematch might be a little tougher for Crystal City since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.