Langston Hughes has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Paulding County Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Langston Hughes put the finishing touches on their 13th blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. Everything went their way against South Paulding as Langston Hughes made off with a 53-33 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Langston Hughes has posted against South Paulding since January 29, 2019.
Langston Hughes' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jasmine Baxter led the charge by scoring 11 points along with four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Karrell Greene, who scored 13 points along with four steals.
Paulding County posted their biggest victory since November 10, 2023 on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 54-33 margin over East Paulding. Paulding County pushed the score to 42-18 by the end of the third, a deficit East Paulding cut but never quite recovered from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Paulding County to victory, but perhaps none more so than Hope Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 15 rebounds. Alexus Wilson was another key contributor, scoring 19 points along with six rebounds and five steals.
Langston Hughes' win was their 18th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-3. They've been dominating during the contests in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 32.17 points. As for Paulding County, they now have a winning record of 10-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Langston Hughes have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 39.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Paulding County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Langston Hughes' way against Paulding County in their previous meeting on January 5th as Langston Hughes made off with a 67-42 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Langston Hughes since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
