After two games on the road, Nixon-Smiley is heading back home. They will take on the Great Hearts Northern Oaks Griffins at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 83-50, which was the final score in Nixon-Smiley's tilt against the Cougars on Friday. While losing is never fun, Nixon-Smiley can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 1122nd, while the Cougars are ranked 276th).
Meanwhile, Great Hearts Northern Oaks entered their tilt with the Bulldogs with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Great Hearts Northern Oaks pulled ahead with a 50-49 photo finish over the Bulldogs.
Great Hearts Northern Oaks' success was spearheaded by the efforts of Nico Franzese, who scored 14 points along with eight rebounds and two steals, and Caden Collins, who scored 15 points. Collins is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last seven games he's played. Ryan Matson was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with ten rebounds.
Nixon-Smiley has traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last seven matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 13-15 record this season. As for Great Hearts Northern Oaks, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matches, which provided a massive bump to their 18-11 record this season.
Nixon-Smiley was dealt a bruising 88-56 loss at the hands of the Griffins when the teams last played back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Collins, who scored 29 points along with seven rebounds. Now that Nixon-Smiley knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
