Basketball Game Preview: Midtown Knights vs. Chapel Hill Panthers

Midtown has gone 9-0 against Chapel Hill recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Midtown Knights will be home for the holidays to greet the Chapel Hill Panthers at 6:00 p.m. Midtown knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past four matchups -- so hopefully Chapel Hill likes a good challenge.

Last Saturday, Midtown made easy work of McDonough and carried off a 69-44 victory. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 23 points or more this season.

Midtown's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Sinclair Richman, who went 6 of 11 from beyond the arc on her way to 20 points and three steals. With that strong performance, Richman is now averaging an impressive 15.2 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Devin Bockman, who went 6 of 15 on her way to 15 points.

Midtown smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 28 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Chapel Hill won against Salem on Friday with 44 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Tuesday. Chapel Hill secured a 44-39 W over Douglas County. While the Panthers didn't have the best season last year (they finished 5-20), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Midtown pushed their record up to 10-2 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.0 points per game. As for Chapel Hill, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 6-4 record this season.

Everything came up roses for Midtown against Chapel Hill when the teams last played back in January, as the team secured a 79-43 win. Will Midtown repeat their success, or does Chapel Hill have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.