Basketball Game Preview: Greater Johnstown Trojans vs. State College Little Lions

The Greater Johnstown Trojans will venture away from home to square off against the State College Little Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Greater Johnstown is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.

Last Friday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Greater Johnstown beat Central 75-69. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked fifth, while the Dragons are ranked 106th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for State College on Friday. They took down Harrisburg 48-33. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Little Lions.

Greater Johnstown better focus on containing Charlie Yartz and Reed Melvin as the pair were huge in State College's win. Yartz dropped a double-double on 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Melvin went 5 for 12 en route to 14 points and six assists. That's the most points Yartz has posted since back in February of 2024.

Greater Johnstown's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-0. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 76.0 points per game. As for State College, their win bumped their record up to 8-6.

Everything came up roses for Greater Johnstown against State College in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, as the team secured a 62-33 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Greater Johnstown since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.