North Penn-Mansfield and Athens are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2019, but not for long. A feisty cat fight is on tap when the North Penn-Mansfield Tigers take on the Athens Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a five-game winning streak alive.
Last Friday, North Penn-Mansfield strolled past Wellsboro with points to spare, taking the game 72-55. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 193rd, while the Hornets are ranked 504th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
North Penn-Mansfield's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Cooper Shaw led the charge by dropping a double-double on 25 points and ten boards. Brady Stetter was another key player, putting up 17 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Athens beat Towanda 45-41 on Friday.
North Penn-Mansfield better focus on containing Nick Grazul and Jase Babcock as the pair were huge in Athens' win. Grazul went 7 of 10 on his way to 15 points, while Babcock went 5 for 11 en route to 11 points along with eight assists and six boards. Those eight assists gave Babcock a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Adam Kemp, who posted five points and five assists.
North Penn-Mansfield's win was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-3. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 25.4 points. As for Athens, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a massive bump to their 8-10 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: North Penn-Mansfield has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 29.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Athens struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for North Penn-Mansfield against Athens when the teams last played back in January, as the team secured a 62-35 victory. Will North Penn-Mansfield repeat their success, or does Athens have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
