Basketball Game Preview: East Tigers vs. Beechcroft Cougars

East is 2-8 against Beechcroft since January of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when the East Tigers duke it out with the Beechcroft Cougars at 6:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

East is headed into Friday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fifth straight game on Tuesday. They received a blow as they fell 50-32 to Columbus International. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 700th, while the Lions are ranked 261st).

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Kaliyah Barron, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 12 boards. She has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more rebounds the last 23 times she's played. Makeda Inman was another key player, putting up eight points and ten rebounds.

Even though they lost, East smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in six consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Beechcroft lost to Linden-McKinley on the road by a 35-16 margin on Tuesday. The contest marked the Cougars' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

East's defeat dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Beechcroft, they now have a losing record at 3-4.

East was able to grind out a solid victory over Beechcroft when the teams last played back in January, winning 53-46. Will East repeat their success, or does Beechcroft have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.