12/18 - 7:00 PM Boys Basketball Final Grosse Pointe South 67 Grosse Pointe North 53 Complete Box Score »

GROSSE POINTE -- It doesn't take much to get the Grosse Pointe communities to get excited when it comes to matchups between Grosse Pointe North and Grosse Pointe South.

The boys basketball teams from North (1-0) and South (1-0) will collide on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the MLive Detroit Game of the Week.

North hopes to make a run for the Macomb Area Conference White Division while Grosse Pointe South hopes to compete for a MAC Blue title, having already beaten Warren Mott from the MAC Red.

Here are five things to know heading into Friday night's matchup.

1. The rivalry runs deep: The rivalry between North and South goes back many, many decades in every sport. It involves communities and neighbors coming out to root for and against each other. It is a true small town rivalry and it has not diminished as the years have gone on. It's as true as a rivalry as it gets.

Some players from both teams have played with or against each other growing up. It doesn't matter that the two teams are in separate MAC divisions. It's all about bragging rights.

"It's definitely a game that all of the kids highlight going in," South coach Troy Glasser said. "In this day and age, where we have open enrollment and kids moving around and choosing different schools for various reasons, our kids at Grosse Pointe, we don't have open enrollment here. These kids grow up playing together."

2. Buszka has been stepping it up early for South: South has only played one game this season but junior Brennan Buszka has already shown that he will be a difference maker. In South's 69-66 win over Warren Mott last week, Buszka scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.

"He had two fouls in the first quarter and we had to sit him," Glasser said. "Then when he settled down, he finished with 18."

3. Zacharias top threat for Norseman: If South could prepare for one player on North's squad, it would be senior guard Mitchell Zacharias. Last year, Zacharias burned South for 23 points and has consistently one of North's scoring threats and remains the heartbeat of the offense.

"Zacharias, if he can get going, he gets going," Glasser said. "He's a lefty and has got a beautiful shot. He can take the ball to the rim and he's a good player."

4. No true bigs for South is no big deal: South may not have height in the paint but Glasser is not too worried about it as the Blue Devils use its length and athleticism to play teams with a full-court defense. South has the ability to trap teams in the corner and will look to be aggressive in its approach moving forward.

"We're not super long and we don't have any true bigs in the post," Glasser said. "But we're consistently 6-foot-3 across the board. (Michael) Calcaterra is 5-9, 5-10 but everyone else is probably around 6-3."

5. Both teams of a lot of players that can score: Aside from Buszka, senior Jack Maher returns as a rising scoring threat from last year while Calcaterra "has had a great fall," according to Glasser.

North has 6-foot-3 scorer Dillon Webb returning to join Zacharias as a great guard-forward scoring duo for North.

"They're a streaky team," Glasser said of North. "When they get hot, they've got a lot of kids that can score ... I think they're bigger but not as long, consistently. I think our bench might be a little bit deeper than theirs this year."