Basketball Game Preview: West Philadelphia Speedboys vs. Strawberry Mansion Knights

The West Philadelphia Speedboys will challenge the Strawberry Mansion Knights at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Tuesday, West Philadelphia made easy work of Mastery Charter North - Pickett and carried off a 75-51 victory. Given the Speedboys' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 171st, while the Pumas are ranked 411th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Strawberry Mansion ended up a good deal behind High School of the Future on Thursday and lost 73-56. The defeat continues a trend for the Knights in their matchups with High School of the Future: they've now lost three in a row.

West Philadelphia will need focus on slowing down Zion Harris, one of several Strawberry Mansion players who made an impact when they last played. He posted 18 points. Hakim Basit was another key player, putting up 12 points.

West Philadelphia is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.8 points per game. As for Strawberry Mansion, their loss dropped their record down to 10-6.

Everything came up roses for West Philadelphia against Strawberry Mansion in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, as the team secured an 80-39 win. Will West Philadelphia repeat their success, or does Strawberry Mansion have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.