Basketball Game Preview: Rock Hills Grizzlies vs. Stockton Tigers

The Rock Hills Grizzlies will head out on the road to face off against the Stockton Tigers at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Rock Hills has been dominant on offense recently, having racked up an incredible 187 points over their last three contests.

Rock Hills fought the good fight in their overtime game against Lawrence-Nelson on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 64-63 to the Raiders. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Monday (57), the Grizzlies still had to take the loss.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Cooper McDill, who posted 26 points along with eight assists and eight boards. That's the most points he has posted since back in December of 2023. Another player making a difference was Eli Whelchel, who went 6 for 10 en route to 16 points and seven rebounds.

Even though they lost, Rock Hills smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Stockton was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 61-29 to Logan/Palco, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 314th, while Logan/Palco are ranked 41st).

Rock Hills has traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-5 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.6 points per game. As for Stockton, their loss dropped their record down to 1-8-1.

Rock Hills strolled past Stockton in their previous matchup on Monday by a score of 57-38. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rock Hills since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.