John Tyler will be in for a big night of basketball Tuesday.

Lindale visits the Lions Den for a hoops doubleheader that will have a large affect on how the Lions and Lady Lions view their seasons at the end of the year.

The 17th-ranked JT girls (28-4, 10-1 District 16-5A) can claim a second straight district title with a win on the final day of the regular season. A loss, however, would likely leave the Lady Lions tied with Lufkin, which faces last-place Jacksonville today.

The girls game is scheduled to begin about 6 p.m.

In their first meeting, JT cruised past Lindale 65-34, forcing 36 turnovers off 27 steals. The Lady Eagles are 3-8 in league play.

The Lady Lions struggled to create turnovers during a recent stretch when they lost to Lufkin (71-58) and had close wins over Whitehouse (62-61) and Corsicana (46-41).

Aside from those three games, JT’s average margin of victory in six wins in 2015 is 36.3 points.

The Lady Tigers and LadyCats are third and fourth, respectively, having already locked up playoff berths.

Win or lose today, the Lady Lions know they’re in the playoffs. The same can’t be said of the Lions.

The JT boys (17-11, 5-5) are, as coach Cedeno Clark said Friday, on life support in terms of their playoff hopes with two games left.

The Lions are currently in fifth, a half-game behind Lufkin (5-4), which has a game in hand. Essentially, JT has to win out to have any shot of reaching the postseason.

After today’s game against Lindale, the Lions have a bye on Friday the 13th before welcoming Lufkin to the Lions Den for the regular-season finale.

The Panthers host last-place Jacksonville (10-15, 1-8) today and Lindale on Friday before coming to Tyler.

The Eagles (17-7, 6-3) themselves are not assured of a playoff spot, despite being tied with Nacogdoches (19-7, 6-3) for second place. Lindale has to play JT, Lufkin and Nac to end the season, the first two on the road.

Corsicana (24-5, 8-2) is the only team that knows it will be in the playoffs. The Tigers edged Lufkin 71-62 on Friday to clinch their berth.