Wellington-Napoleon and Lone Jack are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2018, but not for long. The Wellington-Napoleon Tigers will head out on the road to square off against the Lone Jack Mules at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Wellington-Napoleon focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Friday.
Last Friday, Wellington-Napoleon humbled Orrick with a 63-28 victory. That looming 63-28 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Wellington-Napoleon yet this season.
Trotter Hughes was his usual excellent self, scoring 21 points along with seven steals. He hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Haden Terrill, who scored nine points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Lone Jack's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They were beaten by Summit Christian Academy 78-40. While losing is never fun, Lone Jack can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 336th, while Summit Christian Academy is ranked 84th).
Despite the defeat, Lone Jack had strong showings from Tyler Carpenter, who scored eight points along with six rebounds, and Garrett Mantzey, who scored 13 points. Another player making a difference was Thatcher Kamolz, who scored three points along with five assists and three steals.
The victory got Wellington-Napoleon back to even at 12-12. As for Lone Jack, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Wellington-Napoleon have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Lone Jack struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Wellington-Napoleon came up short against Lone Jack when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 50-39. Can Wellington-Napoleon avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
