St. Thomas Academy at North St. Paul
7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 20

St. Thomas Academy and North St. Paul enter this week with five-game winning streaks and undefeated Metro East Conference records -- marks that will be put to the test with tough games on the slate

The No. 15-3A Cadets face No. 8-3A Mahtomedi, which sits atop the league standings, while the Polars host a Hastings team riding a two-game winning streak on Tuesday, three days before their Friday showdown.

St. Thomas Academy (10-2, 3-0) is led by sophomore Jack Thompson (16.8 ppg), who's seen his numbers drop slightly with the emergence of Sam Vascellaro (11.6 ppg). Vascellaro has posted double-digit scoring in four of the past five games.

Goodnews Kpegeol has averaged 24 points per game in North St. Paul's past three contests.

The Polars (8-3, 3-0) won both meetings last year, but they can expect a new look from the Cadets, who were largely one-dimensional with just one double-digit scorer in those games.