Basketball Game Preview: Lakeland Cavaliers vs. Western Branch Bruins

Lakeland hasn't had much luck against Western Branch recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Lakeland Cavaliers will square off against the Western Branch Bruins at 7:30 p.m. Western Branch took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Lakeland, who comes in off a win.

Lakeland is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They strolled past Grassfield with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 99-82. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded the Cavaliers with their most commanding win of the season.

Meanwhile, Western Branch came up short against Nansemond River on Tuesday and fell 64-53. While losing is never fun, the Bruins can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 141st, while the Warriors are ranked 50th).

This is the second loss in a row for Western Branch and nudges their season record down to 9-10. As for Lakeland, their victory bumped their record up to 7-12.

Lakeland came out on top in a nail-biter against Western Branch in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, sneaking past 65-63. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lakeland since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.