Basketball Game Preview: Wharton Tigers vs. El Campo Ricebirds

The Wharton Tigers will venture away from home to challenge the El Campo Ricebirds at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Wharton knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past five games -- so hopefully El Campo likes a good challenge.

Wharton is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Sweeny to the tune of 90-40 on Friday. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 641st, while the Bulldogs are ranked 1377th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jacoryan Dickerson

Field Goal Percentage

02/07/25 vs Sweeny	69%
02/04/25 vs Brazosport	77%
01/31/25 @ Bay City	52%
01/28/25 vs Needville	73%
01/24/25 @ Columbia	88%
+ 8 more games

Wharton's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jameir Hearne-Robinson, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 boards, and Jacoryan Dickerson, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 16 rebounds. Dickerson is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 45% in the last 13 games he's played. Keilon Jackson was another key player, putting up 18 points and four steals.

Wharton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in six consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, El Campo played a tough contest on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were beaten by La Marque 87-33. The Ricebirds were down 57-22 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.

Wharton pushed their record up to 23-11 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 27 points. As for El Campo, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 12-18.

Everything came up roses for Wharton against El Campo when the teams last played back in January, as the team secured a 73-40 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Wharton since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.