Basketball Game Preview: Laurel Locomotives vs. Hardin Bulldogs

The Laurel Locomotives will venture away from home to face off against the Hardin Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Laurel has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Hardin will arrive with eight straight wins.

On Tuesday, Laurel lost to Lockwood at home by a 66-49 margin. While losing is never fun, the Locomotives can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Montana basketball rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while the LIONS are ranked 14th).

Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, Hardin rose to the challenge on Saturday. They beat the Rangers by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 75-30. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten games by 25 points or more this season.

Hardin pushed their record up to 17-4 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.4 points over those games. As for Laurel, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-13.

Things could have been worse for Laurel, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 60-44 loss to Hardin in their previous meeting back in January. Can Laurel avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.