Basketball Game Preview: Hope Blue Wave vs. Coventry Oakers

The Hope Blue Wave will take on the Coventry Oakers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Coventry took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Hope, who comes in off a win.

Hope will head into Monday's game on the come-up: they were handed a 24-point loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Monday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Wheeler, sneaking past 43-40.

Hope's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jorday Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 17 rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which Johnson has scored at least a third of Hope's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sa-Moni McKay, who posted 14 points and five steals.

Meanwhile, Coventry faced Mt. Hope in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. Coventry took a 43-30 hit to the loss column at the hands of Mt. Hope.

Hope's victory bumped their record up to 2-3. As for Coventry, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-3.