Gentry is 0-5 against Canton since January of 2024 but things could change on Thursday. The Gentry Rams will square off against the Canton Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Gentry sitting on three straight victories and Canton on nine.
Gentry will bounce into Thursday's contest after beating Holmes County Central, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Gentry escaped with a win on Monday against Holmes County Central by the margin of a single free throw, 54-53. 54 seems to be a good number for the Rams as the team scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
| 02/03/25 vs Holmes County Central | 25 |
| 01/14/25 @ Cleveland Central | 21 |
| 01/11/25 vs Edwards | 15 |
It was another big night for Zion Brown, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 15 boards. The game was her third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Za'Kensly Yarbor, who posted 15 points and seven rebounds.
Gentry was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since the start of last season.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Canton beat Cleveland Central 48-43 last Tuesday. That's two games straight that the Tigers have won by exactly five points.
Gentry better keep an eye on Shamira Morton. She was instrumental in Canton's win, dropping a triple-double on 29 points, 15 boards, and 12 blocks. That makes it three consecutive games in which Morton has scored at least a third of Canton's points. Amya Hunter was another key player, going 5 for 11 en route to 10 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals.
Canton pushed their record up to 21-5 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.0 points per game. As for Gentry, the win got them back to even at 12-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Gentry has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Canton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Gentry might still be hurting after the 50-30 loss they got from Canton in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Morton, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds. Now that Gentry knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
