Newton County Academy is 1-9 against Sylva Bay Academy since January of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Newton County Academy Generals will be playing in front of their home fans against the Sylva Bay Academy Saints at 7:30 p.m. The timing isn't great for Newton County Academy: they have been struggling with seven straight losses at home, while Sylva Bay Academy has snatched up seven consecutive wins on the road.
Last Friday, Newton County Academy was beaten by Lamar Christian 59-21. While losing is never fun, Newton County Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 299th, while Lamar Christian is ranked 122nd).
Meanwhile, Sylva Bay Academy fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against Lamar Christian on Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Lions by a score of 43-40. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss Sylva Bay Academy has suffered yet this season.
The losing side was boosted by Brody Boyd, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 13 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Tristen Rogers, who scored five points along with four steals.
Newton County Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Sylva Bay Academy, their loss ended a seven-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 15-5.
Newton County Academy was dealt a bruising 53-14 loss at the hands of Sylva Bay Academy in their previous matchup on January 4th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Rogers, who scored 13 points along with three steals. Now that Newton County Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
