Basketball Game Preview: Mount View Mustangs vs. Waterville Panthers

Mount View and Waterville are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2020, but not for long. The Mount View Mustangs will be playing at home against the Waterville Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Mount View has eight straight wins, Waterville has 16 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Mount View will head into Friday's matchup hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a two-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 21-point drubbing they dealt Leavitt on Friday. Mount View put the hurt on Leavitt with a sharp 57-36 victory. The Mustangs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 71-20, which was the final score in Waterville's tilt against Erskine Academy on Monday. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Maine basketball rankings (they are ranked 131st, while the Eagles are ranked 39th).

Mount View pushed their record up to 14-6 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.7 points per game. As for Waterville, their loss dropped their record down to 0-14.

Everything came up roses for Mount View against Waterville when the teams last played two weeks ago, as the squad secured a 65-19 victory. Will Mount View repeat their success, or does Waterville have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.