North East and Mercyhurst Prep are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The North East Grape Pickers will be playing at home against the Mercyhurst Prep Lakers at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
North East unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of Fairview by a score of 51-49. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as North East came into the match with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 177th, while Fairview is ranked 476th).
Meanwhile, Mercyhurst Prep was just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 53-52 to Iroquois.
North East's loss dropped their record down to 8-4. As for Mercyhurst Prep, they have been struggling recently, as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-7 record this season.
North East didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Mercyhurst Prep when the teams last played back in February of 2023, but they still walked away with a 54-49 victory. Will North East repeat their success, or does Mercyhurst Prep have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
