Basketball Game Preview: Franklin Panthers vs. North Henderson Knights

Franklin and North Henderson are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2017, but not for long. The Franklin Panthers will take on the North Henderson Knights at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Tuesday, Franklin was able to grind out a solid win over Pisgah, taking the game 75-62. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 159th, while the Bears are ranked 444th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, North Henderson came tearing into Tuesday's match with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Mountaineers by a score of 69-61.

North Henderson's win came from a few key players Franklin will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Brayden Hudson, who posted 13 points. Another player making a difference was Titus Moore, who had ten points and five assists.

North Henderson smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in four consecutive contests.

Franklin is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.6 points per game. As for North Henderson, they pushed their record up to 12-8 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.

Franklin strolled past North Henderson in their previous matchup on January 7th by a score of 77-60. The rematch might be a little tougher for Franklin since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.