Basketball Game Preview: Houston County Fighting Irish vs. Waverly Central Tigers

Houston County and Waverly Central are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The Houston County Fighting Irish will be playing at home against the Waverly Central Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Houston County managed to keep up with McKenzie until halftime on Friday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Houston County lost 76-54 to McKenzie. The loss continues a trend for the Fighting Irish in their matchups with the Rebels: they've now lost four in a row.

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Townes Epps, who posted nine points. That's the most points he has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Hagan Honeycutt, who put up ten points and seven assists.

Meanwhile, Waverly Central suffered their biggest defeat since February 15, 2024 on Saturday. They had to suffer through a 82-49 loss at the hands of Dickson County. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 324th, while the Cougars are ranked 75th).

Waverly Central's loss dropped their record down to 5-13. As for Houston County, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 11-8.

Houston County didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Waverly Central in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 61-55 win. Will Houston County repeat their success, or does Waverly Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.