Basketball Game Preview: Murphy Panthers vs. Saraland Spartans

The Murphy Panthers just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Saraland Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Murphy knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past four matchups -- so hopefully Saraland likes a good challenge.

On Thursday, Murphy ended up a good deal behind McGill-Toolen and lost 70-55.

Meanwhile, everything went Saraland's way against T.R. Miller on Tuesday as Saraland made off with a 68-46 victory. Given the Spartans' advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 45th, while the Tigers are ranked 240th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Saraland has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-3 record this season. As for Murphy, their loss dropped their record down to 15-6.

Murphy was able to grind out a solid win over Saraland in their previous matchup last Tuesday, winning 66-55. The rematch might be a little tougher for Murphy since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.