Basketball Preview: Zanesville Blue Devils vs. Lakewood Lancers
Zanesville is 3-0 against the Lancers since January of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. Both teams will face off at 7:25 p.m. on February 6th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Zanesville unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Saturday. They took a 62-45 bruising from Newark. While losing is never fun, Zanesville can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 400th, while the Wildcats are ranked 25th).
Zanesville's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Rashaud Hampton, who scored 19 points, and Drake Tabler who scored 11 points.
Meanwhile, Lakewood's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their eighth straight loss. They had to suffer through a rough 60-25 loss at the hands of Westerville South.
Zanesville's loss dropped their record down to 6-10. As for Lakewood, their defeat was their fifth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 5-13.
Everything went Zanesville's way against the Lancers in their previous matchup back in January of 2023 as the Blue Devils made off with a 73-50 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Zanesville since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
