Basketball Game Preview: Hephzibah Rebels vs. Westside Patriots

The Hephzibah Rebels and the Westside Patriots will face off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played.

On Friday, Hephzibah opened the new year with a less-than-successful 57-50 loss to Harlem. The defeat continues a trend for the Rebels in their matchups with the Bulldogs: they've now lost six in a row.

Meanwhile, Westside had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They walked away with a 69-56 win over the Braves.

Westside's victory was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-6. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 85.3 points per game. As for Hephzibah, their loss dropped their record down to 4-9.

Hephzibah was able to grind out a solid win over Westside in their previous meeting back in January of 2020, winning 71-62. Will Hephzibah repeat their success, or does Westside have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.