Basketball Game Preview: Johnson-Brock Eagles vs. Sacred Heart Irish

Johnson-Brock has won four straight games at home, while Sacred Heart has won four straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Thursday. The Johnson-Brock Eagles will welcome the Sacred Heart Irish at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Johnson-Brock is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Exeter-Milligan/Friend: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Johnson-Brock blew Exeter-Milligan/Friend out of the water with a 62-22 final score. With the Eagles ahead 39-10 at the half, the game was all but over already.

Taryn Ottemann continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 20 points and 13 boards. With that strong performance, she is now averaging an impressive 8.1 rebounds per game. Another player making a difference was Daley Pelican, who posted nine points and three steals.

Johnson-Brock smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in seven consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, everything went Sacred Heart's way against Southern on Tuesday as Sacred Heart made off with a 44-24 win. Given the Irish's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 37th, while the Raiders are ranked 214th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Johnson-Brock's victory bumped their record up to 15-1. As for Sacred Heart, their win bumped their record up to 16-2.

Johnson-Brock didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Sacred Heart when the teams last played two weeks ago, but they still walked away with a 42-36 victory. Does Johnson-Brock have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sacred Heart turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.