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

The East Canton Hornets and the Tuscarawas Central Catholic Saints will compete for holiday cheer at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. East Canton will be strutting in after a win while Tuscarawas Central Catholic will be coming in after a loss.

East Canton is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 49-46 victory over Conotton Valley on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Hornets have posted since December 9, 2023.

Meanwhile, Tuscarawas Central Catholic suffered their closest defeat since December 12, 2023 on Friday. They fell just short of Strasburg-Franklin by a score of 39-36. The Saints have struggled against the Tigers recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.

East Canton will need focus on slowing down Ethan Rothrock, one of several Tuscarawas Central Catholic players who made an impact when they last played. He posted eight points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Rothrock a new career-high in blocks (two). Another player making a difference was Dylan Dumermuth, who put up eight points.

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

Everything came up roses for East Canton against Tuscarawas Central Catholic in their previous matchup back in February, as the squad secured a 60-30 win. In that game, East Canton amassed a halftime lead of 35-13, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Tuesday.