Basketball Game Preview: North Central Knights vs. Stuart Broncos

The North Central Knights will face off against the Stuart Broncos at 7:45 p.m. on Friday.

North Central had been on a three-game streak of scoring at least 55 points, but Valentine put an end to it on Thursday. North Central took a blow against Valentine, falling 74-30. The Knights were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 42-15.

Meanwhile, Stuart had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They took down the Cardinals 78-61.

Stuart's win came from a few key players North Central will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Drew Schmaderer, who dropped a double-double with 14 points and ten steals. What's more, he also posted a 67% three-point shooting accuracy, which is the highest he's achieved since back in December of 2024. Kayde Ramm was another key player, going 9-for-18 on his way to 21 points and five steals.

Stuart smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in three consecutive contests.

North Central's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-13. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.3 points over those games. As for Stuart, their victory bumped their record up to 16-5.

Things could have been worse for North Central, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 51-34 loss to Stuart when the teams last played back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Stuart's Gavynn Mustin, who almost dropped a double-double with 26 points and nine rebounds. Now that North Central knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.