The Long County High School basketball teams will travel to Jesup on Saturday to take on the tough teams from Wayne County High School.
The Blue Tide boys (1-2) will face the Yellow Jackets (1-1), and when these two teams meet, the action is always intense.
When the squads met last year, the Yellow Jackets won a defensive battle, 48-31. This year, the contest should be a higher-scoring game. The Yellow Jackets are averaging 68 points a night while the Blue Tide are putting up 61 points a game.
Wayne County is giving up 76 points a contest to opponents, while teams are scoring an average of 61 points a game against the Blue Tide. In head-to-head action, Wayne County holds a slight advantage over Long County, having won seven of the previous 13 matchups.
Meanwhile, after losing to Wayne County, 57-26,  the last time they met, the Lady Tide also expect a better performance this time around. The Tide girls are much more aggressive and should do much better against the AAAA team in the adjoining county.
Key players for the Blue Tide include Vanda Vareen, Yusuf Gooding and Chris LaRochester, while leading the way for the Lady Tide are Brittany Hall, Laura Clary and Jameka Boyd.
The action begins with the JV girls’ game at 3:30 p.m. and the JV boys following at 5. Varsity action begins at 6:30 p.m. for the Lady Tide, followed by the Blue Tide game starting at 8.

Mike Riddle covers Long County sports.