Basketball Game Preview: Proctor Rails vs. South Ridge Panthers

The Proctor Rails will head out on the road to challenge the South Ridge Panthers at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 82-53, which was the final score in Proctor's tilt against Cloquet on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Rails can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 272nd, while the Lumberjacks are ranked 84th).

Meanwhile, South Ridge took their game on Friday with ease, bagging an 80-53 victory over Nashwauk-Keewatin. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 21 points or more this season.

South Ridge is also on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.0 points per game. As for Proctor, their loss was their sixth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 8-9.

Proctor didn't have too much breathing room in their game against South Ridge in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 53-48 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Proctor since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.