Preview: Big Sandy Wildcats vs. Hawkins Hawks
Big Sandy is 2-8 against Hawkins since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Big Sandy Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Hawkins Hawks at 6:15 p.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
In what's become a running theme this season, Big Sandy gave their fans yet another huge victory on Tuesday. They breezed by Harleton at home to the tune of 76-43.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Big Sandy to victory, but perhaps none more so than Malijah Francis, who scored 21 points along with five steals. Trey Coleman was another key contributor, scoring 19 points along with six blocks and five steals.
Meanwhile, Hawkins waltzed into their match on Friday with 23 straight wins but they left with 24. They came out on top against Ore City by a score of 47-35. Given Hawkins' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 419th, while Ore City is ranked 1491st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Brayden Givens, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 11 rebounds. He is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Another player making a difference was Paul Smith, who scored 13 points.
Big Sandy is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a massive bump to their 12-14 record this season. As for Hawkins, they pushed their record up to 28-1 with that victory, which was their 18th straight on the road dating back to last season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the pair are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Big Sandy hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 63.5 points per game. However, it's not like Hawkins struggles in that department as they've been averaging 61.3 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Big Sandy ended up a good deal behind Hawkins in their previous meeting back in January, losing 55-36. Can Big Sandy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
