Basketball Game Preview: Thomas More Prep-Marian Monarchs vs. Norton Bluejays

The Thomas More Prep-Marian Monarchs will host the Norton Bluejays at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

Thomas More Prep-Marian fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Oakley on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell to the Plainsmen 55-49. While losing is never fun, the Monarchs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 137th, while the Plainsmen are ranked 47th).

Meanwhile, Norton had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.5 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 51-29 margin over the Golden Eagles.

Norton's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-11. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 25.5 points. As for Thomas More Prep-Marian, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 11-9 record this season.

Thomas More Prep-Marian was able to grind out a solid win over Norton in their previous matchup back in January, winning 38-29. Will Thomas More Prep-Marian repeat their success, or does Norton have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.