Basketball Game Preview: Rockwood Tigers vs. Jellico Blue Devils

Rockwood is 1-7 against Jellico since November of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Rockwood Tigers will head out to square off against the Jellico Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. Rockwood will be strutting in after a victory while Jellico will be coming in after a defeat.

Last Tuesday, Rockwood beat Oakdale 47-35. The Tigers haven't had any issues with the Eagles recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive win against them.

Jayden Davidson

Rebounds (Career)

02/25/25 vs Oakdale	9
01/28/25 @ Greenback	7
01/18/25 vs Oliver Springs	6
12/28/24 vs Clarkrange	6
01/24/25 @ Midway	5

Jayden Davidson had a dynamite game for Rockwood, almost dropping a double-double with 20 points and nine boards. Those nine rebounds gave Davidson a new career-high. Collin Abston was another key player, putting up six points along with seven boards and five assists.

Meanwhile, Jellico suffered their closest loss since January 16th on Tuesday. They fell just short of Oliver Springs by a score of 64-61. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (59), the Blue Devils still had to take the loss.

Rockwood will need to focus on slowing down Gavin Dabney, one of several Jellico players who made an impact when they last played. He shot 42% from the field on his way to 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Dre Webb, who posted 15 points.

Jellico has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 13-15 record this season. Rockwood's victory bumped their record up to 8-18.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Rockwood has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 26.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Jellico struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.6 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Rockwood suffered a grim 69-44 defeat to Jellico when the teams last played back in January. Can Rockwood avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.