The La Grange Leopards will take on the Royal Falcons at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. La Grange is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.8 points per game this season.
La Grange is likely headed into the match with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Bellville on Tuesday. La Grange received a blow as they fell 56-41 to Bellville. While the Leopards didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Brahmas 11-6 in the first quarter.
Brandon Mathis
| 02/11/25 @ Bellville | 7 |
| 02/07/25 vs Smithville | 3 |
| 02/04/25 @ Navasota | 8 |
| 01/28/25 @ Giddings | 10 |
| 01/24/25 vs Bellville | 6 |
| + 5 more games |
Despite the loss, La Grange saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Brandon Mathis went 7-for-12 on his way to 16 points along with seven boards and seven blocks. Mathis is on a roll when it comes to blocks, as he's now posted two or more in each of the last ten games he's played. Oliver Gunn was another key player, putting up nine points and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Royal played a tough game on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt an 87-43 defeat at the hands of Stafford. The Falcons haven't had much luck with the Spartans recently, as the team has come up short the last seven times they've met.
La Grange will need to focus on slowing down Zaelyn Shelton, one of several Royal players who made an impact when they last played. He posted eight points and eight boards. The dominant performance also gave Shelton a new career-high in assists (four). Another player making a difference was Braylon Reado, who scored eight points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Royal smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 25 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 15 consecutive contests.
La Grange's loss ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 23-9. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.0 points over those games. As for Royal, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-18.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: La Grange has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 39.5 boards per game. However, it's not like Royal struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
La Grange took a serious blow against Royal when the teams last played back in December of 2019, falling 87-47. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point La Grange was down 46-21.
