Basketball Game Preview: Sterling Tigers vs. Alex Longhorns

The Sterling Tigers will face off against the Alex Longhorns at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Sterling has three straight wins, Alex has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Sterling is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They were the clear victor by a 75-52 margin over Ninnekah on Tuesday. The Tigers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 23 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Alex lost to Amber-Pocasset at home by a 49-34 margin on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Longhorns can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Oklahoma basketball rankings (they are ranked 382nd, while the Panthers are ranked 110th).

Sterling pushed their record up to 13-2 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.1 points per game. As for Alex, their loss dropped their record down to 5-7.

Sterling didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Alex when the teams last played back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 53-49 win. Will Sterling repeat their success, or does Alex have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.