Basketball Game Preview: Liberty Patriots vs. Rainier Beach Vikings

The Liberty Patriots will venture away from home to square off against the Rainier Beach Vikings at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Liberty took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They strolled past Bishop Blanchet with points to spare, taking the game 58-43.

Meanwhile, Rainier Beach waltzed into their contest on Tuesday with 16 straight wins... but they left with 17. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Crusaders 84-81. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' Washington basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while the Crusaders are ranked 36th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Rainier Beach pushed their record up to 22-2 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 96.7 points over those games. As for Liberty, their victory bumped their record up to 16-6.