Basketball Game Preview: Fairbanks Panthers vs. Southeastern Local Trojans

The Fairbanks Panthers will head out to square off against the Southeastern Local Trojans at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Southeastern Local is hoping to do what Catholic Central couldn't last Saturday: put an end to Fairbanks' winning streak, which now stands at five games. Fairbanks simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Catholic Central 65-22. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 43-10.

Ally Gearheart was a one-woman wrecking crew for Fairbanks as she went 6 of 10 en route to 15 points. The dominant performance gave Gearheart a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Mara Vicari, who posted ten points and five steals.

Fairbanks was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Catholic Central only posted two assists.

Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Southeastern Local against Kenton Ridge on Monday as the team secured a 62-24 win. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 171st, while the Cougars are ranked 630th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Fairbanks' victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 38 points. As for Southeastern Local, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season.

Fairbanks ended up a good deal behind Southeastern Local when the teams last played back in January of 2024, losing 45-31. Can Fairbanks avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.