Basketball Game Preview: Shady Side Academy Bulldogs vs. South Allegheny Gladiators

Shady Side Academy is 2-8 against South Allegheny since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. Both will compete for holiday cheer at 7:00 p.m.

Shady Side Academy is headed into Friday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight game on Tuesday. They took a 64-54 hit to the loss column at the hands of Shaler Area.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask South Allegheny). They breezed by Serra Catholic to the tune of 81-53 on Tuesday. Given the Gladiators' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 26th, while the Eagles are ranked 120th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

The win (which was South Allegheny's third in a row) raised their record to 6-1. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.7 points per game. As for Shady Side Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 2-5.

Shady Side Academy couldn't quite finish off South Allegheny when the teams last played back in February and fell 74-71. Can Shady Side Academy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.