Basketball Game Preview: Cairo Syrupmakers vs. Dougherty Trojans

Cairo hasn't had much luck against Dougherty recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Cairo Syrupmakers will square off against the Dougherty Trojans at 6:00 p.m. Cairo has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Last Saturday, Cairo lost to Bainbridge at home by a 60-44 margin.

Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Dougherty against Bainbridge on Tuesday as the team secured a 73-41 win. Given the Trojans' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 98th, while the Bearcats are ranked 344th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Cairo better focus on containing Jaquavus Hallman and Jawuan Jinks Jr as the pair were huge in Dougherty's win. Hallman went 7 of 8 to rack up 17 points, while Jinks Jr went 6 for 13 on his way to 15 points and three steals. The dominant performance gave Hallman a new career-high in points. Jeremiah Kitchens was another key player, putting up seven points.

Dougherty's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-9. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.0 points over those games. As for Cairo, their loss dropped their record down to 4-19.

Cairo was dealt a bruising 83-50 defeat at the hands of Dougherty in their previous meeting two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Jinks Jr, who posted 17 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Now that Cairo knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.