Basketball Game Preview: Cyprus Pirates vs. Juan Diego Catholic Soaring Eagle

The Cyprus Pirates will head out to face off against the Juan Diego Catholic Soaring Eagle at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Tuesday, Cyprus didn't have too much trouble with Taylorsville as they won 85-66. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Pirates.

Cyprus' victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Beckham Bayles, who went 8 of 16 en route to 25 points and six assists. Bayles' evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Koli Fosita, who went 7 of 11 on his way to 15 points in addition to eight boards and three steals.

Bayles wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Cyprus was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Juan Diego Catholic made easy work of Granger on Friday and carried off a 70-49 win. Given the Soaring Eagle's advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 44th, while the Lancers are ranked 130th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Cyprus' victory bumped their record up to 8-5. As for Juan Diego Catholic, their win bumped their record up to an identical 8-5.

Things could have been worse for Cyprus, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 68-49 loss to Juan Diego Catholic when the teams last played back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Juan Diego Catholic's Luke Meyer, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 13 boards. Now that Cyprus knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.