Basketball Game Preview: Belvidere Bucs vs. Woodstock Blue Streaks

After both having extra time off, the Belvidere Bucs and the Woodstock Blue Streaks will dust off their jerseys to square off against one another at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Belvidere's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four games.

Belvidere will bounce into Saturday's matchup after beating Harlem, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Belvidere came out on top against Harlem by a score of 59-51 two weeks ago.

Belvidere can attribute much of their success to Emma Pierson, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 11 boards, and Arianna Labeau, who almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine rebounds. The contest was Pierson's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Maggie Sternquist, who posted four points.

Meanwhile, Woodstock was not able to break out of their rough patch two weeks ago as the team picked up their third straight loss. They were six points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 42-36 heartbreaker at the hands of Sandwich.

Belvidere is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.3 points per game. As for Woodstock, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-7.

Belvidere didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Woodstock when the teams last played back in February of 2023, but they still walked away with a 46-40 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Belvidere since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.