Preview: Glendale Vikings vs. Harmony Area Owls
Glendale and Harmony Area are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2019, but not for long. Having just played yesterday, the Glendale Vikings will get right back to it and host the Harmony Area Owls at 7:00 p.m. on February 7th. The pair have had a bumpy ride up to this point with four consecutive losses for Glendale and three for Harmony Area.
On Tuesday, things could have been worse for Glendale, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 63-45 loss to West Branch. While losing is never fun, Glendale can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 646th, while West Branch is ranked 207th).
Meanwhile, Harmony Area pushed their score all the way to 57 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Blacklick Valley by a score of 59-57. Harmony Area found out winning isn't easy when you make six fewer threes than your opponent.
Harmony Area's loss came about despite a quality game from Jack Bracken, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 17 rebounds. That was a full 43.9% of Harmony Area's points, marking the 11th time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Bryson Hagens, who scored 12 points.
Glendale has traveled a rocky road recently having lost ten of their last 12 contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season. As for Harmony Area, they dropped their record down to 3-15 with that defeat, which was their seventh straight on the road.
Glendale came up short against Harmony Area in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 63-50. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bracken, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 18 rebounds. Now that Glendale knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
