Basketball Game Preview: Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns vs. Shepherd Pirates

The Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns and the Shepherd Pirates will compete for holiday cheer at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Hamshire-Fannett is headed into the matchup having just posted their biggest victory since December 5th on Tuesday. They took their game with ease, bagging a 77-49 win over Hardin-Jefferson.

Meanwhile, Shepherd fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Tarkington on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell to the Longhorns 63-59. The Pirates' loss continues a trend for the squad, making it three in a row.

Despite the defeat, Shepherd saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Brayden White dropped a double-double on 24 points and 21 boards. That was a full 40.7% of Shepherd's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Braydon Mettlen, who put up ten points in addition to six boards and three blocks.

Even though they lost, Shepherd smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in six consecutive matchups.

Shepherd's loss dropped their record down to 11-7. As for Hamshire-Fannett, their victory bumped their record up to 8-10.

Everything came up roses for Hamshire-Fannett against Shepherd when the teams last played back in February of 2022, as the team secured a 117-42 win. In that game, Hamshire-Fannett amassed a halftime lead of 58-31, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.