Basketball Game Preview: North Stars vs. South Spartans

A classic North v. South matchup is on the schedule. The North Stars will host the South Spartans at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

South will be up against a hot North squad: the team just extended their winning streak to nine. North blew past East Bakersfield 69-29 on Wednesday. Given the Stars' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 168th, while the Blades are ranked 986th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, South entered their tilt with Mira Monte on Wednesday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They put the hurt on the Lions with a sharp 65-40 win.

North is also on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.2 points per game. As for South, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-8.

North came up short against South in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 60-50. Can North avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.