Two dominant guards in Cooper Nelson and Antron Mason II are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Sterlington Panthers will welcome the Bastrop Rams at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Having struggled with four defeats in a row, Sterlington turned things around against North Webster on Tuesday. They really took it to the Knights for the full four quarters, racking up a 72-43 win. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Louisiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 162nd, while the Knights are ranked 349th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 02/04/25 @ North Webster | 24 |
| 01/31/25 @ Bastrop | 40 |
| 01/28/25 vs Richwood | 36 |
| 01/24/25 vs Carroll | 19 |
| 01/18/25 vs Lincoln Prep | 24 |
It was another big night for Nelson, who almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine boards. His evening made it nine games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Sam Frazier, who posted eight points.
Meanwhile, Bastrop humbled Mangham with an 84-17 victory. The Rams have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 21 points or more this season.
Bastrop had a senior duo take command as Lebron Deal dropped a double-double on 23 points and ten assists and Mason II shot 5-for-7 from long range and dropped a double-double on 23 points and ten assists. Mason II is also crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Adameyon Moore was another key player, going 6 for 8 en route to 14 points in addition to five assists and five rebounds.
Bastrop was working as a unit and finished the game with 35 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Bastrop has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.4 points. As for Sterlington, their victory was their first in the district, bumping their district record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 12-14.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Sterlington has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Bastrop struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Sterlington might still be hurting after the 94-73 loss they got from Bastrop in their previous meeting on Friday. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Sterlington was down 44-16.
