Basketball Game Preview: Harding Academy Wildcats vs. Izard County Cougars

A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Harding Academy Wildcats face off against the Izard County Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Friday... Harding Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.3 points per game this season.

Harding Academy's tournament run continued when they took on Lakeside on Saturday. Harding Academy strolled past Lakeside with points to spare, taking the game 63-49.

Claire Citty continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 12 of 19 en route to 29 points along with five boards and three steals. That makes it seven consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Harding Academy's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Mackenzie Byrd, who posted ten points in addition to seven boards and five assists.

Harding Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lakeside only racked up three assists.

Meanwhile, Izard County won against Mammoth Spring last Friday with 60 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Saturday. Izard County wrapped up 2024 with a 60-44 victory over Buffalo Island Central. Winning may never get old, but the Cougars sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.

Harding Academy's record is now 9-1. As for Izard County, their record is now 8-2.

Harding Academy beat Izard County 50-42 in their previous matchup back in December of 2020. Will Harding Academy repeat their success, or does Izard County have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.