Basketball Game Preview: Hazleton Area Cougars vs. Berwick Bulldogs

The Hazleton Area Cougars will head out to challenge the Berwick Bulldogs at 7:15 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Hazleton Area has 18 straight wins, Berwick has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Thursday, Hazleton Area humbled Wilkes-Barre with a 57-21 victory. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 16 matches by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Berwick came up short against Wyoming Valley West on Saturday and fell 46-39. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 492nd, while the Spartans are ranked 218th).

Hazleton Area will need focus on slowing down Abby Calarco, one of several Berwick players who made an impact when they last played. She posted ten points and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Carly Post, who earned 15 points.

Hazleton Area pushed their record up to 18-0 with the victory, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 31.5 points. As for Berwick, their loss dropped their record down to 2-15.

Everything came up roses for Hazleton Area against Berwick when the teams last played last Saturday, as the squad secured a 56-23 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Hazleton Area since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.