Preview: Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks vs. Blountstown Tigers
The Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks will head out on the road to take on the Blountstown Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Tuesday, Port St. Joe's game was all tied up 22-22 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They pulled ahead with a 55-54 photo finish over Arnold. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Port St. Joe.
Port St. Joe's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was JD Becton, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 15 rebounds. It was the first time this season that Becton scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Zay Jenkins, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Meanwhile, Blountstown had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They walked away with a 68-57 win over FAMU DRS.
Blountstown found their leader in underclassman Cyion Smith, who scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Aidan Richards, who scored 13 points along with two steals.
Port St. Joe has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 10-11 record this season. As for Blountstown, they now have a winning record of 12-11.
Thursday's game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Port St. Joe have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 40.6% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Blountstown struggles in that department as they've made 40.2% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Port St. Joe strolled past the Tigers in their previous meeting back in January by a score of 45-31. The rematch might be a little tougher for Port St. Joe since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
