Basketball Game Preview: Pine Tree Pirates vs. Spring Hill Panthers

The Pine Tree Pirates will venture away from home to face off against the Spring Hill Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Pine Tree took a loss when they played away from home two weeks ago, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Gilmer 71-43. Given the Pirates' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 535th, while the Buckeyes are ranked 1087th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Spring Hill challenged Grace Community on Saturday. Spring Hill wrapped up 2024 with a 48-33 win over Grace Community. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.

Pine Tree pushed their record up to 11-5 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.2 points per game. As for Spring Hill, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season.

Pine Tree took their win against Spring Hill in their previous matchup back in November of 2023 by a conclusive 47-22. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pine Tree since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.