Basketball Game Preview: North Stokes Vikings vs. Patrick County Cougars

North Stokes and Patrick County are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The North Stokes Vikings will take on the Patrick County Cougars at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

North Stokes is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Surry Central just ended the team's ten-game winning streak on Friday. The game between them and the Golden Eagles didn't end well, with North Stokes falling 57-40. The loss was just more heartbreak for the Vikings who fell 54-52 when the teams previously met back in December of 2022.

Meanwhile, Patrick County was beaten by Liberty 64-30 on Saturday. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 255th, while the Minutemen are ranked 53rd).

This is the second loss in a row for Patrick County and nudges their season record down to 3-5. As for North Stokes, their defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-1.

North Stokes barely slipped by Patrick County in their previous meeting on December 6th, winning 35-34. The rematch might be a little tougher for North Stokes since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.