Basketball Game Preview: Pickerington North Panthers vs. Grove City Greyhounds

Pickerington North is 9-1 against Grove City since February of 2020 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Pickerington North Panthers will welcome the Grove City Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pickerington North has seven straight victories, Grove City has six straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Pickerington North will head into Friday's match hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a two-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 44-point drubbing they dealt Central Crossing on Friday. Pickerington North simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Central Crossing 62-18. That 44 point margin sets a new team best for the Panthers this season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pickerington North to victory, but perhaps none more so than Arness Lawson, who went 9 of 17 on his way to 19 points and seven rebounds. Lawson has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last nine times he's played. Jr Bates was another key player, going 8 for 12 en route to 18 points and four steals.

Meanwhile, Grove City came up short against Bishop Watterson on Tuesday and fell 67-54. While losing is never fun, the Greyhounds can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 374th, while the Eagles are ranked 69th).

Despite the loss, Grove City saw an underclassman step up: freshman Jacob Saxton posted 21 points. Another player making a difference was Brody Willis, who earned nine points.

Pickerington North pushed their record up to 14-3 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.0 points per game. As for Grove City, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-13.

Everything went Pickerington North's way against Grove City in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, as Pickerington North made off with a 75-55 victory. Will Pickerington North repeat their success, or does Grove City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.