The East Central Hornets and the Stone Tomcats will face off at 7:30 p.m. on December 19th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. East Central is hoping to put an end to a ten-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Last Friday, it was a hard-fought game, but East Central had to settle for a 50-47 loss against Richton. While losing is never fun, East Central can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 292nd, while Richton is ranked 105th).
Stone has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 23 points or more this season. They blew past West Marion 62-39.
Stone's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was JaKobey Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 15 rebounds. Johnson hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for eight straight games. Ray Dennis was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with three steals.
East Central's loss dropped their record down to 2-9. As for Stone, their victory bumped their record up to 9-3.
East Central took a serious blow against Stone in their previous matchup back in January of 2017, falling 69-35. Thankfully for East Central, Landon Arnold (who scored 25 points along with five rebounds and three steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
