Purvis is 1-9 against Lawrence County since January of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Purvis Tornadoes will head out to square off against the Lawrence County Cougars at 7:30 p.m. Purvis has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last five games.
Purvis took a loss when they played away from home two weeks ago, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Friday. They put the hurt on Mize with a sharp 66-42 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Tornadoes have posted since November 12th.
| 12/20/24 vs Mize | 14 |
| 12/16/24 @ Sacred Heart | 12 |
| 12/13/24 @ Seminary | 11 |
| 11/07/24 vs Collins | 10 |
| 12/03/24 vs West Marion | 10 |
Purvis' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Beni Raanes led the charge by dropping a double-double on 16 points and 14 boards. The dominant performance gave Raanes a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Judd Gipson, who posted 20 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals.
Purvis was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Lawrence County wrapped up 2024 with a 61-47 win over Richland. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 81st, while the Rangers are ranked 222nd), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lawrence County has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.0 points per game. As for Purvis, the victory got them back to even at 6-6.
Things could have been worse for Purvis, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 72-56 loss to Lawrence County in their previous meeting back in January. Can Purvis avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
