Basketball Game Preview: Washington County Golden Hawks vs. East Laurens Falcons

Washington County has gone 7-2 against East Laurens recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Washington County Golden Hawks just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the East Laurens Falcons at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

East Laurens will be up against a hot Washington County team: the squad just extended their winning streak to five. Washington County claimed a resounding 74-32 victory over Jefferson County. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 37-10.

Washington County can attribute much of their success to Jade Kitchens, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds, and Aeria Hagans, who went 8 of 16 on her way to 22 points along with five assists and four steals. That's the most points Hagans has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Kemyia Carlyle, who went 5 for 9 en route to 11 points and four steals.

Washington County smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive games.

Meanwhile, East Laurens waltzed into their contest on Saturday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. They blew past the Raiders 78-45. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 120th, while the Raiders are ranked 445th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Washington County pushed their record up to 14-3 with the win, which was their eighth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.5 points per game. As for East Laurens, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season.

Washington County took their victory against East Laurens in their previous meeting back in January of 2020 by a conclusive 58-34. In that game, Washington County amassed a halftime lead of 38-16, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Tuesday.