Preview: North Schuylkill Spartans vs. Panther Valley Panthers
North Schuylkill has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Panther Valley Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Panther Valley took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on North Schuylkill, who comes in off a win.
North Schuylkill can now show off five landslide victories after their most recent game on Saturday. They put the hurt on Kutztown with a sharp 71-50 victory. Given North Schuylkill's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 258th, while Kutztown is ranked 637th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
North Schuylkill had a senior duo take command as Jack Keiter scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and five assists and Zane Zulkowski scored 28 points along with five rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Zulkowski has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of jude maziekas, who scored six points.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Panther Valley's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They took a 58-49 hit to the loss column at the hands of Blue Mountain. Panther Valley has not had much luck with Blue Mountain recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Chase Weaver put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored 16 points along with five assists and five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Stephen Hood, who scored 11 points.
North Schuylkill pushed their record up to 11-5 with that win, which was their ninth straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.1 points per game. As for Panther Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-6.
North Schuylkill strolled past Panther Valley when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a score of 55-40. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Panther Valley's Drew Kokinda, who scored 15 points along with three steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will North Schuylkill still be able to contain him? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
