EC vs. Kountze Predictions?

[KFDM COOP]

Predictions for Friday?

[Guest Wildcat 08]

I say Kountze by 5.

[CHSOwls24]

EC by 3

[ECBuc08]

EC by 4.  close game and then EC makes free throws at the end.

[WH-BackInThaDay]

Don't know if I'm more excited about watchin the Oilers and Stangs or this one. Hope its a hard fought game. Both of these teams can give anyone they play all they can handle. 

[Bucster]

EC vs. Kountze on a neutral court will be the game of the year in SE Texas. Their previous 2 meetings were close games with each winning at home.

[WH-BackInThaDay]

Yeah, I agree. I thought the WH-Big Sandy game was, but WH came out smokin hot and took control. I think  HJ-Newton =Warmup game for HJ but be careful Newton always has athletes  WH-WO-S = something to prove game for WH (McCarter coming back to try and whoop up on WH. Not gonna be so easy) and the EC vs. Kountze game = SETX small town game of the year. check that SETX game of the year!!

[basketball_2222]

i think kountze takes this one by 7 unless they are just cold from the 3 point line

[Lazeek]

I have said it on anothe site....EC by 2!!!!!

[KFDM COOP]

East Chambers-Kountze III tonight

A coin-flip just wouldn't do.

No, the Kountze and East Chambers boys basketball teams wanted to play for the No. 1 playoff seed in District 24-2A.

Kountze (25-5) and East Chambers (29-7) ended the 24-2A season tied for first place with 11-1 records.

"I don't think it was ever a question about flipping for the playoff spots," said East Chambers coach Hank Hargraves. "I think it was just understood that we would play it out."

The Kountze and East Chambers contest will be the final game of a playoff preview scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. today at the Montagne Center.

Hardin-Jefferson plays Newton at 6 p.m. today, while West Orange-Stark plays West Hardin in the second match up immediately following Game 1.

"It's going to be a battle," said Kountze coach Duane Joubert. "I think East Chambers brings its best game when they face us. They look forward to the game, and they play harder when we play."

This is not the first time Kountze and East Chambers have been in this predicament. The schools were co-district champions in 2005.

The Bucs won the first district meeting at home, and the Lions won the second game. The schools played a district playoff game that year to determine the top two seeds.

The Lions, who were the eventual Class 2A champions, won the district playoff game to receive a first-round bye. Kountze then beat East Chambers a couple of weeks later in the 2A, Region III finals in Tyler.

"That was a big year for us," said Joubert, who was in his first season with the Lions. "I know some people doubted us after we lost to East Chambers, but we never gave up and we won the state championship that year."

The victory against Kountze in 2005 was the only time the Bucs had beaten the Lions until this season. Kountze was on a five-game winning streak in the series before the Bucs handed the Lions a 65-60 loss on Jan. 5.

East Chambers, which trailed by 15 points in the third quarter, outscored the Lions 14-9 in the fourth to force overtime. The Bucs went on an 11-6 run in overtime to beat Kountze in the first meeting.

"We got the win because we contested every shot and boxed out," said Hargraves. "The win gave us a lot of confidence. It showed the guys that they could go out there and compete with the best of them."

A few weeks later, Kountze beat East Chambers 71-67. The Lions made 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute of the game to hold off East Chambers.

"We have been in this situation before," Joubert said. "We just have to take care of business like we did last time in the Montagne."