Basketball Recap: Leflore County's Higher State Rank on Full Display on Friday

Leflore County won the last time they faced Simmons and things went their way on Friday too. The Leflore County Tigers walked away with a 69-56 victory over the Simmons Blue Devils. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 90th, while the Blue Devils are ranked 263rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

When it comes to explaining why Simmons lost, don't look at Carl Lucas Jr.. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 22 points and 12 boards. Lucas Jr. has been hot recently, having posted 12 or more rebounds the last three times he's played. Lebron Morris was another key player, going 5 of 6 on his way to 10 points and seven rebounds.

Leflore County has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.3 points per game. As for Simmons, they are on an 11-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-9.

Leflore County will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against Riverside at 7:30 p.m. on January 3, 2025. Simmons and Cleveland Central will round out the year against one another at at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Simmons knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past four contests -- so hopefully Cleveland Central likes a good challenge.