Basketball Game Preview: Federal Hocking Lancers vs. Belpre Golden Eagles

Federal Hocking and Belpre are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2020, but not for long. The Federal Hocking Lancers will host the Belpre Golden Eagles at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday.

On Monday, Federal Hocking ended up a good deal behind Waterford and lost 60-41. The game marked the Lancers' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Meanwhile, Belpre had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three two weeks ago. They couldn't have asked for a better start to 2025 than the 64-34 blowout they got against the Spartans. The Golden Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 30 points or more this season.

Federal Hocking better focus on containing Gracie Bills and Haley Alloway as the pair were huge in Belpre's win. Bills posted 11 points along with eight assists and eight steals, while Alloway went 7 of 10 en route to 16 points in addition to seven boards and five assists. The dominant performance also gave Alloway a new career-high in blocks (three). Another player making a difference was Julia Way, who went 5 of 11 on her way to 10 points and three steals.

Belpre was working as a unit and finished the game with 23 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Federal Hocking's loss ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 9-4. As for Belpre, their victory bumped their record up to 8-3.

Federal Hocking came up short against Belpre in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, falling 76-68. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bills, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 15 boards. Now that Federal Hocking knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.