Basketball Game Preview: West De Pere Phantoms vs. Xavier Hawks

The West De Pere Phantoms will head out to face off against the Xavier Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with West De Pere sitting on five straight wins and Xavier on four.

Last Friday, West De Pere made easy work of Seymour and carried off a 71-46 victory. The Phantoms have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 23 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, it was a Battle of the Birds when Xavier faced off against Menasha on Friday. Xavier walked away with an 84-71 win over Menasha. Given the Hawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Wisconsin basketball rankings (they are ranked 106th, while the Bluejays are ranked 219th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

West De Pere's victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-5. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.8 points over those games. As for Xavier, their win bumped their record up to 17-5.

West De Pere took their victory against Xavier in their previous matchup back in January by a conclusive 76-53. The rematch might be a little tougher for West De Pere since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.