Basketball Game Preview: Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears vs. Pine River-Backus Tigers

The Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears will head out on the road to take on the Pine River-Backus Tigers at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses apiece.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 100-29, which was the final score in Clearbrook-Gonvick's tilt against Kelliher/Northome on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 337th, while the Mustangs are ranked 125th).

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Pine River-Backus duked it out with Upsala on Saturday. Pine River-Backus was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 52-51 to Upsala.

Pine River-Backus' defeat dropped their record down to 13-9. As for Clearbrook-Gonvick, their loss dropped their record down to 6-15.

Clearbrook-Gonvick ended up a good deal behind Pine River-Backus in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, losing 70-55. Can Clearbrook-Gonvick avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.