Basketball Game Preview: Pike Road Patriots vs. Cullman Bearcats

The Pike Road Patriots and the Cullman Bearcats will compete for holiday cheer at 1:30 p.m. on Monday. Pike Road knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past seven contests -- so hopefully Cullman likes a good challenge.

Pike Road saw some tournament action on Saturday. They strolled past Prattville with points to spare, taking the game 82-63. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 133rd, while the Lions are ranked 325th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Cullman has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They lost 56-34 to Dutchtown on Saturday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Bearcats have suffered since November 27th.

Pike Road is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.1 points per game. As for Cullman, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-3.