Basketball Game Preview: Pickerington North Panthers vs. Beavercreek Beavers

The Pickerington North Panthers will take on the Beavercreek Beavers at 4:45 p.m. on Monday. Pickerington North is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.4 points per game this season.

It was a proper cat-fight when Pickerington North duked it out withLincoln on Friday. Pickerington North came out on top against Lincoln by a score of 64-54. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 47th, while the Lions are ranked 187th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Pickerington North's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Jr Bates, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 17 points. Bates has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 14 times he's played. Arness Lawson was another key player, going 9 for 16 en route to 19 points and six rebounds.

Pickerington North smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 23 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Beavercreek didn't have quite enough to beat Newark on Sunday and fell 50-47.

Pickerington North's victory bumped their record up to 9-3. As for Beavercreek, they have also been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-8 record this season.