Basketball Game Preview: Fair Grove Eagles vs. Norwood Pirates

The Fair Grove Eagles will venture away from home to take on the Norwood Pirates at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Fair Grove was handed a heart-breaking two-point defeat in their last matchup, but they sure didn't let that happen against Springfield Catholic on Friday. Fair Grove was the clear victor by a 64-41 margin over Springfield Catholic.

Meanwhile, Norwood humbled Gainesville with a 74-38 victory. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 39th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 322nd), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Norwood's win came from a few key players Fair Grove will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Peyton McDaris, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 11 points along with six rebounds and five assists. That's the most boards he has posted since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Carder Kelly, who went 5 for 8 en route to 15 points.

Fair Grove has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.8 points over those games. As for Norwood, they pushed their record up to 20-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.