There's no place like home for the Fort Payne Wildcats, who bounced back after a tough loss on the road on Tuesday. They snuck past Jacksonville with a 60-54 win on Thursday. Given Fort Payne's advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 78th, while Jacksonville is ranked 224th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Several Golden Eagles players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Ashley Grant, who scored 15 points. The contest was Grant's third in a row with at least ten points. Deasia Prothro was another key contributor, scoring six points along with 12 rebounds and five steals.
Even though they lost, Jacksonville were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Fort Payne's victory bumped their record up to 7-3. As for Jacksonville, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-6.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Fort Payne won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Southside on December 8th. Southside is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games. Jacksonville won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Piedmont at 6:00 p.m. on December 8th. Piedmont has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
