Basketball Game Preview: Spencer Tigers vs. Spirit Lake Indians

Spencer and Spirit Lake are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The Spencer Tigers are taking a road trip to take on the Spirit Lake Indians at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

Spencer is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Mason City just ended the team's six-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a 67-61 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Mohawks.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Spirit Lake). They breezed by Pocahontas to the tune of 85-39 on Tuesday. Given Spirit Lake's advantage in MaxPreps' Iowa basketball rankings (they are ranked 104th, while Pocahontas is ranked 238th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

The win was the fourth in a row for Spirit Lake, bringing their record for this year to 5-2. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.5 points per game. As for Spencer, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-2.

Spencer came up short against Spirit Lake when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 66-59. Can Spencer avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.