Basketball Game Preview: Freedom Patriots vs. Watauga Pioneers

The Freedom Patriots will square off against the Watauga Pioneers at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Freedom comes in on three and Watauga on nine.

Freedom can't be too worried about heading out to take on Watauga: they just beat South Caldwell at home, who had been dominant on their own court up to that point. Freedom came out on top against South Caldwell by a score of 75-68 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Watauga on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Alexander Central with a sharp 71-47 victory. The Pioneers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 12 games by 22 points or more this season.

Freedom better keep an eye on Josiah Railey. He was instrumental in Watauga's win, going 10-for-14 en route to 23 points and three steals. Railey's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least 15 points. Another player making a difference was Cade Keller, who posted 12 points and three steals.

Watauga pushed their record up to 18-6 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.8 points over those games. As for Freedom, their victory bumped their record up to 19-6.

Freedom couldn't quite finish off Watauga in their previous meeting last Wednesday and fell 72-69. Can Freedom avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.