The Hale County Wildcats have been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell just short of Central by a score of 45-42. Hale County lost against Central in their previous head to head last Friday, too, but the margin this time around was much wider than the 51-47 score last time.
When it comes to explaining why Hale County lost on Tuesday, one person who can't be blamed is Yasmine Jackson. Despite the final result, she dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten steals. Those ten steals set a new season-high mark for her. Kha?liyah Harris was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with five steals.
Even though they lost, Hale County were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Central had a senior duo take command as Jakhiya Smith dropped a double-double on 18 points and 16 rebounds and Aaliyah Golston scored 24 points. That makes it seven consecutive games in which Golston has scored at least 25% of Central's points.
Hale County's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-4. As for Central, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season.
Hale County will head out on the road to face off against American Christian Academy at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Central will be home for the holidays to greet Paul W. Bryant at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Paul W. Bryant will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Alabama Rankings (they are ranked 240th, while Central is ranked 74th).
