Basketball Game Preview: Laurens Raiders vs. Hillcrest Rams + Official Tickets

The Laurens Raiders and the Hillcrest Rams will compete for holiday cheer at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

On Monday, the stars were shining brightly for Laurens in a 64-50 victory over White Knoll.

Q Quinton Watts

Points

12/15/25 vs White Knoll	21
12/10/25 vs Woodruff	12
12/03/25 @ Woodruff	21
12/02/25 @ Hillcrest	13
11/26/25 @ Spartanburg Christian Academy	17
+ 2 more games

Laurens' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Q Quinton Watts led the charge by going 8-for-11 en route to 21 points and four steals. With that strong performance, Watts is now averaging an impressive 15.3 points per game. Another player making a difference was Z Zakarion Simpson, who almost dropped a double-double with nine points and 17 rebounds.

Laurens was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as White Knoll only racked up nine.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hillcrest). They walked away with a 78-70 win over J.L. Mann on Tuesday. The victory continues a trend for the Rams in their matchups with the Patriots: they've now won three in a row.

Laurens' win bumped their record up to 3-6. As for Hillcrest, their victory bumped their record up to 5-3.

Laurens couldn't quite finish off Hillcrest in their previous matchup on December 2nd and fell 64-61. Will the Raiders have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.