Basketball Game Preview: Abernathy Antelopes vs. New Deal Lions

Abernathy and New Deal are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2016, but not for long. The Abernathy Antelopes will be playing at home against the New Deal Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Abernathy is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering New Home just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Tuesday. They lost 58-35 to the Leopards. While losing is never fun, the Antelopes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 577th, while the Leopards are ranked 229th).

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely New Deal's strategy against Smyer on Tuesday. New Deal was the clear victor by a 70-45 margin over Smyer. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Lions had established a 23 point advantage.

Abernathy's defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 4-1 and their overall record down to 13-8. As for New Deal, the victory got them back to even at 12-12.

Abernathy strolled past New Deal in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 by a score of 57-42. Will Abernathy repeat their success, or does New Deal have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.