After both having extra time off, the Dierks Outlaws and the Shirley Blue Devils will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. The timing is sure in Dierks' favor as the squad sits on four straight wins at home while Shirley has been banged up by nine consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
While Dierks didn't have the best season last year (they finished 9-12), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They simply couldn't be stopped last Friday as they easily beat Mena 56-12. The Outlaws have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 24 points or more this season.
Meanwhile, Shirley was beaten by Norfork 71-17 last Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Blue Devils can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arkansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 263rd, while the Panthers are ranked 116th).
Shirley's defeat dropped their record down to 0-17. As for Dierks, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
