Basketball Game Preview: Silsbee Tigers vs. Wheatley Wildcats

A feisty cat fight will be fought as the Tigers take on the Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Silsbee is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. Everything went their way against Center as Silsbee made off with a 70-46 win. The victory was familiar territory for the Tigers, who have now won 13 contests in a row.

Payton Jones

Points

02/17/25 vs Center	15
02/11/25 @ Vidor	16
02/07/25 vs West Orange-Stark	33
02/04/25 @ Little Cypress-Mauriceville	24
01/31/25 vs Bridge City	25
+ 13 more games

Silsbee's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Payton Jones led the charge by almost dropping a double-double with 15 points and nine assists. The game was Jones' 18th in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Quinton Shoulders, who went 5-for-9 on his way to 17 points.

Jones wasn't the only one working in the assist department: Silsbee was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Center only racked up six assists.

Meanwhile, Wheatley had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 40.4 points) and they went ahead and made it nine on Monday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Longhorns 91-63.

Silsbee's win bumped their record up to 21-13. As for Wheatley, their victory bumped their record up to 23-7.

Silsbee took their win against Wheatley in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 77-55. Will Silsbee repeat their success, or does Wheatley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.