Basketball Game Preview: Bartlett Panthers vs. Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders

The Bartlett Panthers will take on the Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders in a holiday battle at 8:30 p.m. on Monday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Bartlett comes in on nine and Archbishop Stepinac on three.

Bartlett is headed into this one coming off a big win against nationally ranked Petersburg (Bartlett was ranked 14th at the time). The Panthers enjoyed a cozy 63-44 victory over the Crimson Wave on Saturday. The 63-point effort marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Stepinac was able to grind out a solid win over The Villages Charter on Saturday, taking the game 66-57.

Archbishop Stepinac's win came from a few key players Bartlett will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Hassan Koureissi, who shot 80% from the field en route to 21 points. Those 21 points gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Darius Ratliff, who went 5-for-10 to rack up 13 points and seven rebounds.

Bartlett's victory bumped their record up to 8-0. As for Archbishop Stepinac, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.