Basketball Game Preview: Northome/Kelliher Mustangs vs. Pine River-Backus Tigers

The Northome/Kelliher Mustangs will face off against the Pine River-Backus Tigers at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Northome/Kelliher knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 24 matchups -- so hopefully Pine River-Backus likes a good challenge.

On Friday, Northome/Kelliher was able to grind out a solid victory over Marshall, taking the game 105-94.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Pine River-Backus duked it out with Upsala on Saturday. The Tigers took down the Cardinals 77-63. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Tigers' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 89th, while the Cardinals are ranked 226th).

Pine River-Backus is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-2 record this season. The team dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 32.6 points. As for Northome/Kelliher, their win bumped their record up to 23-1.

Everything came up roses for Northome/Kelliher against Pine River-Backus when the teams last played back in February of 2025, as the team secured a 99-48 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Mustangs since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.