Basketball Game Preview: Willis Wildkats vs. New Caney Eagles

Willis has gone 8-2 against New Caney recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Willis Wildkats will head out to challenge the New Caney Eagles at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Willis has four straight victories, New Caney has six straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Willis will bounce into Tuesday's matchup after beating College Park, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. Willis snuck past College Park with an 80-75 win on Friday. The victory almost wasn't to be: the Wildkats were down 64-47 in the third quarter.

Willis' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tyshon Nixon, who posted 22 points along with five boards and five steals. The dominant performance gave Nixon a new career-high in points. Jackson Day was another key player, going 5 of 8 en route to 16 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals.

Willis smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in seven consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, New Caney played a tough game on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They took a blow against Grand Oaks, falling 67-25. The match marked the Eagles' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Willis is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-9 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.5 points per game. As for New Caney, their loss dropped their record down to 6-20.

Willis beat New Caney 52-41 when the teams last played back in December of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Willis since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.