Basketball Game Preview: Imagine Prep Storm vs. CIA-Bella Vista Bears

Imagine Prep and CIA-Bella Vista are an even 3-3 against one another since January of 2018, but not for long. The Imagine Prep Storm will be playing at home against the CIA-Bella Vista Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Imagine Prep knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past six matchups -- so hopefully CIA-Bella Vista likes a good challenge.

Imagine Prep is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Learning Foundation & Performing Arts just ended the team's 12-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell 76-69 to the Wolves. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Monday (58), the Storm still had to take the loss.

Loss or not, Imagine Prep got some senior leadership from Jaylen Cassidy and Dylan Eaddy. Cassidy went 8 of 17 on his way to 25 points along with eight assists and eight boards, while Eaddy almost dropped a double-double on 25 points and nine rebounds. Cassidy's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points.

Meanwhile, CIA-Bella Vista is ranked highly in their home state and on Saturday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Montverde Academy. CIA-Bella Vista fell just short of Montverde Academy by a score of 51-48. The contest marked the Bears' lowest-scoring match so far this season.

Imagine Prep's defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 20-5. As for CIA-Bella Vista, their loss dropped their record down to 17-4.

Imagine Prep was able to grind out a solid win over CIA-Bella Vista in their previous meeting back in February of 2021, winning 64-55. Does Imagine Prep have another victory up their sleeve, or will CIA-Bella Vista turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.