Basketball Game Preview: Serra Catholic Eagles vs. Clairton Bears

The Serra Catholic Eagles will square off against the Clairton Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Serra Catholic is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 68.2 points per game this season.

It was a Battle of the Birds when Serra Catholic faced off against Environmental Charter on Tuesday. Serra Catholic blew past Environmental Charter 74-48. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matches by 24 points or more this season.

Serra Catholic can attribute much of their success to Owen Dumbroski, who went 9 of 17 on his way to 22 points in addition to five assists and five steals, and Brayden Graham, who went 9 for 12 on his way to 18 points and seven steals. With that strong performance, Graham is now averaging an impressive 2.3 steals per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Mark Johnson, who posted nine points in addition to six assists and six steals.

Serra Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Clairton sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 48-45 win over Riverview on Friday.

Clairton has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 4-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.5 points per game. As for Serra Catholic, their victory was their ninth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-2.

Serra Catholic was able to grind out a solid win over Clairton when the teams last played back in January of 2024, winning 72-61. Will Serra Catholic repeat their success, or does Clairton have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.