Basketball Game Preview: Starmount Rams vs. South Stokes Sauras

The Starmount Rams will square off against the South Stokes Sauras at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Starmount will be strutting in after a victory while South Stokes will be coming in after a defeat.

Last Tuesday, Starmount beat Elkin 38-25. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 145th, while the Buckin' Elks are ranked 350th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Starmount relied on the efforts of Molly Swaim, who posted 15 points, and Carley Money, who put up nine points and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Swaim has scored at least a third of Starmount's points.

Meanwhile, South Stokes was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Wednesday as they fell 45-40 to Reagan. The Sauras have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

South Stokes' loss dropped their record down to 10-10. As for Starmount, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 15 matches, which provided a massive bump to their 14-7 record this season.

Starmount didn't have too much breathing room in their game against South Stokes in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 65-61 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Starmount since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.