Preview: North Schuylkill Spartans vs. Pine Grove Cardinals
The North Schuylkill Spartans's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Pine Grove Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on January 23rd. North Schuylkill will be strutting in after a win while Pine Grove will be coming in after a loss.
In what's become a running theme this season, North Schuylkill gave their fans yet another huge win on Saturday. They blew past Kutztown 71-50. Given North Schuylkill's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 258th, while Kutztown is ranked 637th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
North Schuylkill relied on the efforts of Zane Zulkowski, who scored 28 points along with five rebounds and two steals, and Jack Keiter, who scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. Zulkowski continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. jude maziekas was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Pine Grove suffered their biggest loss since December 14, 2023 on Thursday. They had to suffer through a rough 70-43 loss at the hands of Pottsville.
North Schuylkill's victory was their ninth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-5. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.1 points per game. As for Pine Grove, their loss dropped their record down to 1-13.
Everything came up roses for North Schuylkill against Pine Grove when the teams last played back in December of 2023 as the squad secured a 67-30 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for North Schuylkill since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
