Preview: Eastlake Falcons vs. Franklin Cougars
Eastlake is 1-9 against Franklin since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Eastlake Falcons will head out on the road to square off against the Franklin Cougars at 7:30 p.m. Eastlake is looking to tack on another W to their four-game streak on the road.
Eastlake posted their closest victory yet this season on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Montwood and snuck past 51-48. 51 seems to be a good number for Eastlake as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
Eastlake's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Lucas Brandon, who scored 18 points along with five assists and two steals. Another player making a difference was Aaron Vargas, who scored 15 points.
Meanwhile, Franklin strolled past Montwood with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 57-40. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Franklin.
Franklin's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Noah Hall led the charge by scoring 12 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Martinez, who scored nine points along with five assists and two steals.
Eastlake has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-12 record this season. As for Franklin, their win bumped their record up to 18-6.
Friday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Eastlake have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 39.1% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Franklin struggles in that department as they've made 44.3% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Eastlake and Franklin were neck-and-neck in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, but Eastlake came up empty-handed after a 54-53 defeat. Can Eastlake avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
