Basketball Game Preview: Hayesville Yellowjackets vs. Cherokee Braves

Hayesville is 0-10 against Cherokee since January of 2021 but things could change on Friday. The Hayesville Yellowjackets will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cherokee Braves at 6:30 p.m. Both are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.

Hayesville is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Blue Ridge Early College: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Hayesville blew Blue Ridge Early College out of the water with a 55-19 final score. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 37-15.

Meanwhile, Cherokee entered their tilt with A.C. Reynolds on Wednesday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They took their game with ease, bagging an 83-52 victory over the Rockets. The Braves have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 matchups by 31 points or more this season.

Hayesville now has a winning record of 9-8. As for Cherokee, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-2 record this season.

Hayesville was taken down by Cherokee 84-13 in their previous matchup back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cherokee's Whitney Rogers, who went 8 of 14 on her way to 19 points and four steals. Now that Hayesville knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.