If it's anything like the first one, tonight should be a barn-burner.
When the Jefferson City Jays play host to the Helias Crusaders tonight, basketball fans can only hope the teams put on as good a show as the first time they played this season.
Meeting in the loser's bracket semifinal of the Mike Kehoe Great 8 Classic on Dec. 28, the Crusaders and Jays locked up in a double-overtime thriller, with Helias emerging with a 70-68 victory.
Neither team led by more than eight points at any stage in the game, which was tied seven times, including after the first quarter, regulation and the first overtime.
It's what you've come to expect when those teams get together.
"It's going to be one of those games where you're going to have to have to capitalize on every opportunity," Jefferson City coach Blair Thompson said. "The margin for error in these types of games goes way down. You have to be mentally dialed in, and you have to be able to do that in a loud and pretty intense atmosphere."
Helias coach Josh Buffington agreed with that assessment.
"This is a game that is really 100 percent built off emotion," Buffington said. "The kids have been playing against each other for several years and this can showcase the talent off both teams.
"Normally we only see them once in a season, but the way it fell we've already played, but that's not going to change the intensity or the environment."
Both teams got big performances by their leading scorers in the first meeting. Helias' Isiah Sykes, who's pumping in 23.2 points per game, dropped in 26 in the victory. That was part of a balanced team effort, as Hale Hentges had 13 points to go with his nine rebounds and six blocks, while Sam Husting scored 12 points and Collin Caywood had 11. Caywood is the Crusaders' second-leading scorer at 9.3 ppg, while Hentges is close behind at 9.1. Hentges leads the squad in rebounding at 6.0 per contest, while Adam Bax is right on his heels at 5.9 per game.
"It's going to take a heck of an effort (to beat them)," Thompson said. "Helias is a very good basketball team. Everyone plays their roles very well, they execute on both ends of the floor. It's going to take a sharp game and a very detail-oriented game."
Jefferson City, meanwhile, was paced in that game by O.G. Anunoby, who pumped in a game-high 30 points. That's pretty close to his season average, as he's scoring 24.2 points per contest to go with 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. Jake White, who had 16 points in the meeting, is averaging 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
If the Crusaders are going to make it a season sweep, they'll have to beat the Jays twice on their home court.
"This game, regardless of where you play, have to be mentally tough to win it," Buffington said. "Both teams are very familiar with their opponent, both in terms of strengths and weaknesses. So it will probably come down to few plays or who gets the loose balls."
The Jays come in having won five of six to up their record to 9-6.
"I've been fairly pleased at the way we've been playing recently," Thompson said. "We had a quality win at Battle (on Jan. 14) and had a really good win at Pacific on Saturday."
The Crusaders started their current six-game winning streak with that victory against Jefferson City and are now 10-2.
"We're playing about as well as we have all season, and they are, too," Buffington said.