The Smiths Station Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Central Red Devils at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Smiths Station is hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
Smiths Station suffered their biggest defeat yet this season on Tuesday. They had to suffer through a rough 79-36 loss at the hands of Auburn. Smiths Station has struggled against Auburn recently, as their matchup on Tuesday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Meanwhile, Central had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.2 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Tuesday. They enjoyed a cozy 74-56 victory over Opelika. Given Central's advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked tenth, while Opelika is ranked 168th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Smiths Station has not been sharp recently, as they've lost eight of their last nine games, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-15 record this season. As for Central, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 13 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 24-6 record this season.
Smiths Station came up short against Central when the teams last played two weeks ago, falling 73-61. Can Smiths Station avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
