Preview: Chipley Tigers vs. Holmes County Blue Devils
The Chipley Tigers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Holmes County Blue Devils at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Chipley focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 30 on Thursday.
After a string of three wins, Chipley's good fortune finally ran out. They lost to Graceville on the road by a decisive 36-20 margin. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Chipley has scored all season.
Marlee Sullivan was Chipley's leading scorer, having posted eight points.
Kinsleigh Hunter took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.
Meanwhile, Holmes County beat Bethlehem 49-42 on Monday. Given Holmes County's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 180th, while Bethlehem is ranked 370th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Savannah Goodman, who scored 22 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. Emma Whitaker was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Chipley's defeat dropped their record down to 8-8. As for Holmes County, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-6 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's match: Chipley have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 37.1% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Holmes County struggles in that department as they've only nailed 36.5% of their threes per game this season. Given Chipley's sizeable advantage in that area, Holmes County will need to find a way to close that gap.
Chipley came up short against Holmes County when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 60-47. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Whitaker, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 11 rebounds. Now that Chipley knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
