Basketball Game Preview: Sugar-Salem Diggers vs. Bear Lake Bears

After both having extra time off, the Sugar-Salem Diggers and the Bear Lake Bears will shake off the cobwebs and take on one another at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Sugar-Salem comes in on 11 and Bear Lake on six.

If Sugar-Salem beats Bear Lake with 64 points on Friday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. Sugar-Salem blew past Filer, posting a 64-23 win. The Diggers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 25 points or more this season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sugar-Salem to victory, but perhaps none more so than Sophia Dougherty, who posted 13 points and five steals. Dougherty is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Tasha Larsen, who went 5 of 9 on her way to 11 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Bear Lake against Rock Springs last Saturday as the squad secured a 64-36 victory. The Bears is also no stranger to big wins: their blowout was the six game they've won by 20+ points or more this season.

Sugar-Salem's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-0. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.5 points per game. As for Bear Lake, their record is now 8-1.

Sugar-Salem didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Bear Lake in their previous meeting back in November, but they still walked away with a 36-32 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sugar-Salem since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.