Smithville is 1-9 against La Grange since February of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Smithville Tigers will head out to challenge the La Grange Leopards at 7:30 p.m.
Smithville is headed into Friday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their 16th straight game on Tuesday. They were beaten by Bellville 73-18.
Meanwhile, La Grange entered their tilt with Navasota on Tuesday with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. They snuck past the Rattlers with a 55-50 win. The score was all tied up 21-21 at the break, but the Leopards were the better team in the second half.
La Grange's win came from a few key players Smithville will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Brandon Mathis, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 16 boards. He has been hot, having also posted two or more blocks the last eight times he's played. Another player making a difference was Clayton Cooper, who posted seven points in addition to nine rebounds and six steals.
La Grange smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in seven consecutive games.
La Grange is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 17 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 22-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.3 points per game. As for Smithville, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-22.
Smithville was dealt a bruising 91-8 loss at the hands of La Grange in their previous meeting two weeks ago. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Smithville was down 42-3.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
