Gaither is 0-5 against Blake since January of 2018 but things could change on Tuesday. The Gaither Cowboys just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Blake Yellow Jackets at 8:00 p.m. Gaither knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past nine games -- so hopefully Blake likes a good challenge.
On Monday, Gaither greeted the New Year with with a 79-65 victory over Sunlake. The Cowboys pushed the score to 62-40 by the end of the third, a deficit the Seahawks cut but never quite recovered from.
| 01/06/25 @ Sunlake | 21 |
| 11/19/24 vs Sickles | 14 |
| 12/20/24 vs Fivay | 13 |
| 01/17/24 @ Jefferson | 11 |
| 11/30/24 vs Blanche Ely | 11 |
Gaither's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Asiah Perry, who posted 21 points, and Josiah Manrow, who put up 21 points. The dominant performance gave Perry a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Jayce Humphries, who had 14 points.
Meanwhile, Blake and Gibbs (ranked 45th and 63rd in the MaxPreps national rankings respectively) squared off in a high-profile contest on Saturday. Blake fell to Gibbs 68-62. The defeat continues a trend for the Yellow Jackets in their matchups with the Gladiators: they've now lost three in a row.
Gaither will have to keep a close watch on Joshua Lewis and Joe Philon, a pair of players who had a big impact on Blake's prior game. Lewis dropped a double-double on 19 points and 14 boards, while Philon earned 18 points and eight rebounds. Philon continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Marion Ward, who posted ten points.
Even though they lost, Blake smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 16 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Gaither pushed their record up to 10-5 with the win, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.9 points per game. As for Blake, their loss dropped their record down to 12-2.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Gaither and Blake are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Gaither hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 65.5 points per game. However, it's not like Blake struggles in that department as they've been averaging 69.1 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Gaither ended up a good deal behind Blake in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, losing 71-52. Can Gaither avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
