The Cole Cougars are taking a road trip to take on the Lytle Pirates at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
Cole is likely headed into the contest with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Long Creek on Tuesday. The Cougars fell 33-22 to the Dragons. The game marked the Cougars' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.
Despite the defeat, Cole had strong showings from Makalee Chambers, who almost dropped a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, and Alexys Cheney, who posted four points along with eight boards and four steals.
Meanwhile, Lytle was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They came up short against Stockdale, falling 46-26. That's two games in a row now that the Pirates have lost by exactly 20 points.
Aliana Cardenas was Lytle's leading scorer, having posted eight points. Landynn Guzman took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with four assists.
Lytle's defeat dropped their record down to 2-10. As for Cole, they now have a losing record of 11-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Cole has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 27.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Lytle struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Cole against Lytle in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, as the team secured a 50-12 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cougars since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
