Basketball Game Preview: South Pontotoc Cougars vs. New Albany Bulldogs

The South Pontotoc Cougars will head out on the road to square off against the New Albany Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Tuesday, South Pontotoc came up short against Senatobia and fell 64-56.

Meanwhile, New Albany's and North Pontotoc's match on Tuesday was close at halftime, but New Albany turned on the heat in the second half with 43 points. New Albany put the hurt on North Pontotoc with a sharp 65-45 victory. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 20 points or more this season.

New Albany had a senior duo take command as Kylan King went 10 for 17 en route to 23 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals and Amari Hubbard almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine boards. The dominant performance gave King a new career-high in points. Issac Gilbert was another key player, putting up eight points and 13 rebounds.

New Albany has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.0 points per game. As for South Pontotoc, their loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-8.

South Pontotoc couldn't quite finish off New Albany when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 43-40. Thankfully for South Pontotoc, Kylan Lindsey (who went 11 of 18 on his way to 25 points) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.