Preview: Northside Panthers vs. Sterling Raiders
The Northside Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Sterling Raiders at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 110-59, which was the final score in Northside's tilt against Madison on Saturday. While losing is never fun, Northside can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 1283rd, while Madison is ranked 456th).
Northside might have lost, but man, keith Wilson was a machine: he scored 31 points along with four steals. The contest was Wilson's tenth in a row with at least ten points. Jerryus Mathews was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Meanwhile, Sterling came tearing into last Friday's game with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They claimed a resounding 79-24 victory over Milby at home. Considering Sterling has won four matchups by more than 28 points this season, last Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sterling to victory, but perhaps none more so than Xzavier Edmonson, who scored 16 points. Those 16 points set a new season-high mark for him. Another player making a difference was Darnell Williams, who scored 13 points.
Northside's defeat dropped their record down to 4-6. As for Sterling, they pushed their record up to 6-2 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season.
Tuesday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Northside have been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 40.2% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Sterling struggles in that department as they've nailed 44.1% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Northside was taken down by Sterling 91-51 in their previous meeting back in February. Can Northside avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
