Basketball Game Preview: Seward Seahawks vs. Kodiak Bears

The Seward Seahawks will be taking part in a tournament against the Kodiak Bears at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Seward has seven straight wins, Kodiak has eight straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Seward is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Susitna Valley: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Seward blew Susitna Valley out of the water with a 54-24 final score. The Seahawks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matches by 23 points or more this season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Seward to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ava Jagielski, who posted nine points along with eight assists and five rebounds. Jagielski is also crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least four every time she's taken the court this season. Mikinley Williams was another key player, going 5 for 12 en route to 11 points in addition to eight boards and four steals.

Seward smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in nine consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 60-7, which was the final score in Kodiak's tilt against Wasilla on Saturday. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alaska basketball rankings (they are ranked 53rd, while the Warriors are ranked first).

Seward pushed their record up to 7-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.7 points per game. As for Kodiak, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-9.

Seward came up short against Kodiak in their previous matchup back in February of 2015, falling 47-34. Can Seward avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.