After three games on the road, Stone is heading back home. The Stone Tomcats and the East Central Hornets will face off at 7:30 p.m. on December 19th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. East Central took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Stone, who comes in off a win.
Stone has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 23 points or more this season. They put the hurt on West Marion with a sharp 62-39 victory on Saturday. Given Stone's advantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 114th, while West Marion is ranked 246th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Stone's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was JaKobey Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 15 rebounds. Those 19 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Ray Dennis, who scored 17 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, East Central's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their seventh straight loss. They fell just short of Richton by a score of 50-47. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for East Central in their matchups with Richton: they've now lost three in a row.
Stone's win bumped their record up to 9-3. As for East Central, they bumped their record down to 2-9 with that loss, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Everything came up roses for Stone against East Central when the teams last played back in January of 2017 as the team secured a 69-35 victory. Will Stone repeat their success, or does East Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
