Basketball Game Preview: Laurel Golden Tornadoes vs. Wayne County War Eagles

vs

Previous Games

01/07/25 - Home	48-36 W
02/09/24 - Neutral	69-45 W
01/23/24 - Away	58-32 W
01/09/24 - Home	52-32 W
02/10/23 - Neutral	35-31 W
+ 5 more games

Laurel is 8-2 against Wayne County since January of 2022 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Laurel Golden Tornadoes just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Wayne County War Eagles at 6:00 p.m. Laurel is coming into the game hot, having won their last 18 games.

Laurel saw some tournament action on Monday. They strolled past Heidelberg with points to spare, taking the game 59-45. Given the Golden Tornadoes' advantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Oilers are ranked 79th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Laurel's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kayllis Walker, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 12 rebounds. Walker is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Gracelyn Carmichael, who went 6 of 9 en route to 16 points and five boards.

Laurel smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in 28 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Wayne County was just a bucket shy of victory on Saturday and fell 54-53 to Bay Springs.

Laurel pushed their record up to 23-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.7 points per game. As for Wayne County, their loss dropped their record down to 14-6.

Laurel beat Wayne County 48-36 in their previous matchup two weeks ago. The rematch might be a little tougher for Laurel since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.