Basketball Game Preview: Eastern Eagles vs. Waterford Wildcats

Eastern is 2-8 against Waterford since January of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Eagles will head out to square off against the Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. Eastern knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past six matchups -- so hopefully Waterford likes a good challenge.

If Eastern beats Waterford with 62 points on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. The Eagles took down Federal Hocking 62-45 on Friday. The win continues a trend for the Eagles in their matchups with the Lancers: they've now won four in a row.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Waterford). They were the clear victors by a 63-42 margin over Fort Frye on Tuesday. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Wildcats just coasted through the last quarter.

Eastern's victory bumped their record up to 7-12. As for Waterford, their win bumped their record up to 8-9.

Eastern came up short against Waterford when the teams last played back in December of 2025, falling 57-50. Can the Eagles avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.