Basketball Game Preview: Cottondale Hornets vs. Blountstown Tigers

The Cottondale Hornets will take on the Blountstown Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Cottondale is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. They took down Malone 41-27.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Blountstown, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They strolled past Ponce De Leon with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 55-40. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 295th, while the Pirates are ranked 642nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Blountstown's win came from a few key players Cottondale will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Cyion Smith, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Curtis Ellis, who went 7 of 16 en route to 16 points along with six assists and four steals.

Blountstown has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.9 points per game. As for Cottondale, their win bumped their record up to 13-9.

Cottondale came up short against Blountstown in their previous matchup back in January, falling 47-39. Can Cottondale avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.