Basketball Game Preview: North Central Eagles vs. North Baltimore Tigers

The North Central Eagles will challenge the North Baltimore Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

North Central will head into Thursday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by 24) and on Thursday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Edon, sneaking past 45-42. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Eagles have posted against the Bombers since February 12, 2022.

Meanwhile, North Baltimore came tearing into Thursday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They took down the Rockets 50-35.

North Baltimore's win came from a few key players North Central will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Lacie Allison, who almost dropped a double-double on 26 points and nine boards. The matchup was her 15th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Aubrey Cotterman, who posted 13 points and three steals.

North Baltimore smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in four consecutive games.

North Baltimore's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-6. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.5 points per game. As for North Central, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-8 and their overall record up to 7-11.

North Central suffered a grim 50-27 defeat to North Baltimore in their previous matchup back in January of 2021. Can North Central avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.