This Is Not Sparta

After a grueling regular season that has left the GS boys' basketball team with a 7 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, tonight the real action begins. The Lions will face Montour High School at 8 P.M tonight at Plum High School. GS will face a young, but talented and athletic Montour team tonight that finished 13-7 and 7-5 in section 4-AAA. The Spartans are currently on a 5 game winning streak and appear to have gained momentum at the correct time. Montour also fields a lineup that has a significant size advantage over the guard-oriented Lions. Lead by 6'5 Sophomore center Dylan Buechel, Montour has found success when they have been able to dominate their opponents up front. One clear advantage that GS has is their defense. When playing against the top defenses in the WPIAL, Montour has struggled mightily. In their second game against WPIAL leading Chartiers Valley, Montour was shut down offensively, scoring only 38 points in a 68-38 loss. If GS hopes to win the game tonight, Raevann Mottley must use his athleticism to contain Buechel in the post. Along with this, Jake Matthews will need to prevent freshman guard Devin Wilson from dominating in the open court. If all of these things happen, GS will prevail. I predict a 68-58 victory for the Lions, setting up a rematch of the PIAA Semifinals last year against Hampton on Friday night.