Basketball Game Preview: Salem Spartans vs. Christiansburg Blue Demons

Salem has gone 9-1 against Christiansburg recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Salem Spartans will take on the Christiansburg Blue Demons at 7:00 p.m. Both are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.

Christiansburg will be up against a hot Salem team: the squad just extended their winning streak to six. Salem breezed by Glenvar to the tune of 66-14 on Friday. With the Spartans ahead 42-3 at the half, the contest was all but over already.

Gabby Crawley continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, putting up ten points and four steals. She has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. Bailey Rider was another key player, scoring eight points.

Salem smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in six consecutive games.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Christiansburg). Everything went their way against Radford on Saturday as Christiansburg made off with a 68-48 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Blue Demons have posted since December 13, 2024.

Salem pushed their record up to 18-1 with the win, which was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 25.9 points per game. As for Christiansburg, they now have a winning record of 9-8.

Everything came up roses for Salem against Christiansburg in their previous meeting last Saturday, as the team secured a 67-25 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Salem since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.