Basketball Game Preview: Milford Tigers vs. White Pine Bobcats

A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Milford Tigers challenge the White Pine Bobcats at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday... The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Milford has nine straight wins, White Pine has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Milford will head into Friday's contest hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big last Saturday (they won by 23) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Maeser Prep Academy, sneaking past 51-49. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 42nd, while the Lions are ranked 127th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Sadler Barnes continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, putting up 21 points in addition to eight steals and five assists. His evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Colton Barnes, who went 5 for 7 on his way to 13 points and three steals.

Milford smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in nine consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, White Pine ended up a good deal behind Lincoln County on Saturday and lost 63-45. The Bobcats were down 54-32 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Milford pushed their record up to 11-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.5 points per game. As for White Pine, their loss dropped their record down to 6-6.

Everything came up roses for Milford against White Pine in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, as the squad secured a 64-35 win. In that game, Milford amassed a halftime lead of 40-16, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Tuesday.