Basketball Recap: Tolman Falls Short Against Ranked Classical

On Tuesday, Tolman faced Classical in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Tolman Tigers lost 78-53 to the Classical Purple. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Tigers have suffered since January 6th.

Tolman lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being John Hilaire, who went 6 for 10 en route to 13 points along with seven boards and three steals. Hilaire is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 13 games he's played. Another player making a difference was Josiah Washington, who posted eight points and 12 rebounds.

Leading Classical to victory were Eliezer Delbrey and Abdul Evans. Delbrey put up 30 points, while Evans earned 17 points. Delbrey 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 Mohammed Fadia, who scored nine points.

With the defeat, Tolman broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 11-8. As for Classical, they have been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season.

Tolman will challenge Shea at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Tolman is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 59.9 points per game this season. As for Classical, they will face off against Central at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Central knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 16 contests -- so hopefully Classical likes a good challenge.