Basketball Game Preview: Gainesville Leopards vs. Panther Creek Panthers

The Gainesville Leopards will head out to challenge the Panther Creek Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Gainesville is headed into the match having just suffered their closest loss since November 9, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Aubrey by a score of 62-59. While losing is never fun, the Leopards can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 355th, while the Chaparrals are ranked 156th).

Meanwhile, Panther Creek had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They claimed a resounding 75-45 victory over the Falcons. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Panthers had established a 26 point advantage.

Panther Creek's win came from a few key players Gainesville will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was RODNEY WAGNER, who posted 14 points and three steals. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in assists (four). XAVIER RAINWATER was another key player, putting up ten points and six steals.

Panther Creek is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.7 points per game. As for Gainesville, their defeat was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 17-13.

Gainesville suffered a grim 67-42 defeat to Panther Creek in their previous matchup back in December of 2024. Can Gainesville avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.