Basketball Game Preview: Tarkington Longhorns vs. Shepherd Pirates

Tarkington and Shepherd are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2019, but not for long. The Tarkington Longhorns will be playing at home against the Shepherd Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Tarkington will be strutting in after a victory while Shepherd will be coming in after a loss.

Tarkington took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They walked away with a 67-56 win over Hardin-Jefferson.

Meanwhile, Shepherd was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They took a 68-49 bruising from Hardin-Jefferson.

Despite the loss, Shepherd saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Brayden White dropped a double-double on 30 points and 14 boards. White's evening made it ten games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryson Goodman, who posted five points and five assists.

Shepherd's defeat dropped their record down to 16-13. As for Tarkington, their victory bumped their record up to 21-7.

Tarkington didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Shepherd in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 63-59 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was White, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 21 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Tarkington still be able to contain White? There's only one way to find out.