Basketball Game Preview: Shepherd Pirates vs. Tarkington Longhorns

Shepherd and Tarkington are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2019, but not for long. The Shepherd Pirates will head out on the road to face off against the Tarkington Longhorns at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Shepherd is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.8 points per game this season.

Shepherd is headed into Tuesday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Tuesday. The contest between them and Hardin-Jefferson didn't end well, with Shepherd falling 68-49.

Shepherd might have lost, but man, Brayden White was a machine: he dropped a double-double on 30 points and 14 boards. That was a full 61.2% of Shepherd's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryson Goodman, who had five points and five assists.

Meanwhile, Tarkington hadn't done well against Hardin-Jefferson recently (they were 0-4 in their previous four matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Tarkington walked away with a 67-56 victory over Hardin-Jefferson.

Tarkington's win bumped their record up to 21-7. As for Shepherd, their loss dropped their record down to 16-13.

Shepherd came up short against Tarkington when the teams last played back in December of 2024, falling 63-59. Can Shepherd avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.