Basketball Game Preview: Ooltewah Owls vs. McMinn County Cherokees

Ooltewah is 1-9 against McMinn County since December of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Ooltewah Owls will venture away from home to face off against the McMinn County Cherokees at 6:00 p.m.

Last Tuesday, Ooltewah was beaten by Bradley Central 62-23. While losing is never fun, the Owls can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 235th, while the Bears are ranked 37th).

Meanwhile, McMinn County didn't have too much trouble with Meigs County on Tuesday as they won 77-60. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cherokees.

McMinn County's victory was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-4. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.7 points per game. As for Ooltewah, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-6.

Ooltewah was taken down by McMinn County 84-30 in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. Can Ooltewah avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.