Basketball Game Preview: North Vikings vs. Firestone Falcons

The North Vikings just played last yesterday, but they'll still welcome the Firestone Falcons at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

North managed to keep up with Shaker Heights until halftime on Wednesday, but things quickly went downhill from there. North lost 68-45 to Shaker Heights. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 742nd, while the Red Raiders are ranked 321st).

Meanwhile, Firestone played a tough matchup on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were beaten by Ellet 58-30. The defeat continues a trend for the Falcons in their matchups with the Orangemen: they've now lost nine in a row.

North will have to keep a close watch on Kennedy Whiting and Aliza Blair, a pair of players who had a big impact on Firestone's prior game. Whiting posted 15 points, while Blair had six points.

North has been struggling recently as they've lost nine of their last ten contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-15 record this season. As for Firestone, their loss dropped their record down to 6-10.

North took a serious blow against Firestone when the teams last played on January 9th, falling 64-11. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point North was down 33-11.