Basketball Preview: Morristown-Hamblen East Hurricanes vs. Sevier County Smoky Bears
Morristown-Hamblen East is 7-2 against the Smoky Bears since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. Both teams will face off at 7:30 p.m. on February 6th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. One thing working in Morristown-Hamblen East's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last seven matches.
Even though Cocke County scored an imposing 61 points on Saturday, Morristown-Hamblen East still came out on top. Morristown-Hamblen East took their matchup against the Fighting Cocks 69-61. Given Morristown-Hamblen East's advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 25th, while the Fighting Cocks are ranked 227th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Morristown-Hamblen East's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kyle Cloninger, who scored 15 points along with five assists and five rebounds. Cloninger is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last 26 games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Cory Carpenter, who scored 14 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Sevier County entered their tilt with the Trojans with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Sevier County enjoyed a cozy 56-41 win over the Trojans on Friday.
Morristown-Hamblen East has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 21-6 record this season. As for Sevier County, their victory bumped their record up to 16-6.
Morristown-Hamblen East skirted past the Smoky Bears 54-52 in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Morristown-Hamblen East since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
