Basketball Game Preview: Tuscola Mountaineers vs. Franklin Panthers

Tuscola is 1-9 against Franklin since December of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Tuscola Mountaineers just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Franklin Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Tuscola is headed into Friday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their eighth straight game on Thursday. They lost 63-41 to Brevard.

Meanwhile, Franklin entered their matchup against East Henderson on Tuesday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Franklin fell 59-46 to East Henderson.

Tuscola will need focus on slowing down Jack Jack Teesateskie, one of several Franklin players who made an impact when they last played. He posted ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Max McClure, who went 5 of 12 on his way to 13 points.

Tuscola's loss dropped their record down to 2-14. As for Franklin, their defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 13-4.

Tuscola was taken down by Franklin 69-38 when the teams last played back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Franklin's William Rauers, who went 6 for 10 en route to 16 points along with six rebounds and six steals. Now that Tuscola knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.