By Cody Pastorella
The big matchup tonight for area prep basketball takes place in Beaumont where the Nederland Bulldogs will square off with the Central Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. in Central High School's boys gym.
Both teams own 7-3 District 20-4A records going into tonight's game. Nederland is coming off a disappointing 63-51 beating at Little Cypress-Mauriceville on Tuesday, while the Jags escaped Lumberton with a 69-63 decision.
In their previous league matchup, the Jags clobbered Nederland 63-44 on Jan.12th. Central also beat Nederland in an overtime game at the YMBL Tournament in Beaumont earlier this season.
The Bulldogs will be looking to avenge those losses and retake sole possession of second place in the league standings.
Ozen is pacing the district with a 9-1 record and Livingston sits alone in fourth place at 6-4 after topping the Port Neches-Groves Indians 50-49 at the Reservation on Tuesday.
That result dropped the Tribe to 4-6 in league play and their overall mark to 16-10. With four games remaining, the Indians are still in the playoff picture despite back-to-back losses, but their pulse is fading quickly. PN-G absolutely needs a victory in Vidor tonight to keep their chances alive.
It will also be hoping LC-M (5-5) can knock off the Lions in Livingston because that would level Livingston and the Bears in a tie for fourth place. That outcome coupled with a win in Vidor, the Indians would trail LC-M and Livingston by one game for that final playoff spot.
PN-G owns the tiebreaker advantage over LC-M but the Lions have the same advantage over the Indians.
Meanwhile, the Memorial Titans continued to prove their worth as District 21-5A's best team by getting a tough 70-64 victory over the North Shore Mustangs in Galena Park on Tuesday. That win moved Port Arthur's overall slate to 22-3. They are now 6-0 in league play and will take on the Sterling Rangers tonight in Baytown.
In District 20-4A girls' basketball action, it's now or never for PN-G, who will host the Lady Pirates tonight. The Lady Tribe and Lady Pirates are both 3-7 in the league table and still have a chance to catch Lumberton and LC-M (5-7) for fourth place. LC-M hosts third place Livingston tonight while Lumberton travels to second place Ozen.
Neither Livingston (9-3), Ozen (10-2) or Central (10-1), who plays in Nederland (2-10) tonight at 6 o'clock, have lost a game to any district team with a record below .500. PN-G finishes the regular season at Lumberton and LC-M will close out at Vidor.
