Basketball Game Preview: Cleveland Heights Tigers vs. Mentor Cardinals

A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Cleveland Heights Tigers challenge the Mentor Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday... Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

On Tuesday, Cleveland Heights lost to Brunswick at home by a 68-53 margin. The loss continues a trend for the Tigers in their matchups with the Blue Devils: they've now lost four in a row.

Meanwhile, after a string of five wins, Mentor's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They lost 76-53 to Strongsville. The match marked the Cardinals' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Mentor's defeat dropped their record down to 11-5. As for Cleveland Heights, their loss ended an eight-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-8.

Cleveland Heights beat Mentor 78-70 when the teams last played back in January. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Mentor's Marcus Sierputowski, who went 9 of 19 on his way to 20 points along with seven steals and six rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Cleveland Heights still be able to contain Sierputowski? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.