Basketball Game Preview: Jones Fightin' Tigers vs. Osceola Kowboys

The Jones Fightin' Tigers will wrap up 2024 with a road trip to face off against the Osceola Kowboys at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Jones has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Osceola will arrive with six straight wins.

Last Wednesday, Jones came up short against Dr. Phillips and fell 79-71. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Saturday (70), the Fightin' Tigers still had to take the loss.

Meanwhile, Osceola strolled past Centennial with points to spare on Thursday, taking the game 81-67. Given the Kowboys' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 16th, while the Eagles are ranked 120th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jones better focus on containing Luke Mccrimon and Jordan Isaac as the pair were huge in Osceola's win. Mccrimon went 9 of 14 on his way to 25 points, while Isaac went 9 for 15 on his way to 24 points in addition to eight boards and three steals. The game was Isaac's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Mundle, who went 5 of 7 on his way to 14 points and seven rebounds.

Osceola's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-1. As for Jones, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-8.