The Dougherty Trojans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Crisp County Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Dougherty has three straight wins, Crisp County has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Dougherty posted their closest victory yet this season on Tuesday. They skirted past Carver 64-61. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
It was another big night for Jaion Burns, who scored 18 points along with seven steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaleke Singletary-Jinks, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Crisp County came up short against Wilcox County on Tuesday and fell 66-54. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Crisp County in their matchups with Wilcox County: they've now lost three in a row.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Jaylon Cooper, who scored 17 points. Another player making a difference was Courtney Oliver 4, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Dougherty has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. As for Crisp County, they dropped their record down to 7-10 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Dougherty have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 36 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Crisp County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.5 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Dougherty strolled past Crisp County in their previous meeting on January 5th by a score of 75-60. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Crisp County's Ladarius Smith, who scored 25 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Dougherty still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
