Basketball Game Preview: Tuscarawas Central Catholic Saints vs. East Canton Hornets

The Tuscarawas Central Catholic Saints and the East Canton Hornets will compete for holiday cheer at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Tuscarawas Central Catholic is headed into the contest having just suffered their closest loss since December 12, 2023 on Friday. They fell just short of Strasburg-Franklin by a score of 39-36. The defeat continues a trend for the Saints in their matchups with the Tigers: they've now lost six in a row.

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Ethan Rothrock, who posted eight points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in blocks (two). Dylan Dumermuth was another key player, putting up eight points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask East Canton). They came out on top in a nail-biter against Conotton Valley on Friday, sneaking past 49-46. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Hornets have posted since December 9, 2023.

Tuscarawas Central Catholic's loss dropped their record down to 1-3. As for East Canton, the win got them back to even at 2-2.

Tuscarawas Central Catholic was taken down by East Canton 60-30 in their previous matchup back in February. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Tuscarawas Central Catholic was down 35-13.