Basketball Game Preview: Green City Gophers vs. Princeton Tigers

The Green City Gophers will challenge the Princeton Tigers at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Green City is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last six games.

Last Thursday, Green City didn't have too much trouble with Novinger as they won 59-40. Given the Gophers' advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 157th, while the Wildcats are ranked 408th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jaryn Hatcher

Points

02/27/25 vs Novinger	17
02/22/25 @ Bucklin-Macon County	15
02/21/25 @ Bevier	17
02/19/25 vs Atlanta	17
02/14/25 vs La Plata	17
+ 11 more games

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Green City to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jaryn Hatcher, who almost dropped a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and nine blocks. Hatcher's big performance that evening made it 16 games in a row in which she has scored at least 15 points. Macy Jeffries was another key player, shooting 45% from the field en route to 22 points and five assists.

Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Princeton had no problem doing just that on Thursday. Everything went their way against the Panthers as they made off with a 52-32 victory. The Tigers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 12 games by 20 points or more this season.

The win made it two in a row for Princeton and bumps their season record up to 20-4. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 25.5 points. As for Green City, their victory bumped their record up to 22-4.

Green City skirted past Princeton 55-52 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. Does Green City have another victory up their sleeve, or will Princeton turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.