Basketball Game Preview: Pope County Pirates vs. Century Centurions

Pope County has gone 9-1 against Century recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Pope County Pirates will host the Century Centurions at 5:00 p.m. The timing is sure in Pope County's favor as the team sits on 15 straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Century has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.

Last Friday, Pope County didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Hardin County, but they still walked away with a 38-33 win.

Pope County's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Jaydan Holmes, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds. Holmes has been hot, having posted ten or more boards the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Bella Fasolo, who posted 12 points and six rebounds.

Pope County smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 15 consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Century played a tough contest on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against Murphysboro, falling 50-29. The Centurions were down 43-21 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Pope County's victory bumped their record up to 11-4. As for Century, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-9.

Pope County strolled past Century in their previous matchup back in December of 2024 by a score of 44-27. Does Pope County have another victory up their sleeve, or will Century turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.