Basketball Game Preview: Waverly Central Tigers vs. Houston County Fighting Irish

Waverly Central and Houston County are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The Waverly Central Tigers will challenge the Houston County Fighting Irish at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Waverly Central will head into Saturday's matchup out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Saturday. They were beaten by Dickson County 82-49. The loss continues a trend for the Tigers in their matchups with the Cougars: they've now lost six in a row.

Meanwhile, Houston County managed to keep up with McKenzie until halftime on Friday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Houston County lost 76-54 to McKenzie. While the Fighting Irish didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Rebels 23-15 in the first quarter.

Waverly Central will need focus on slowing down Townes Epps, one of several Houston County players who made an impact when they last played. He posted nine points. That's the most points Epps has posted since back in November of 2024. Another player making a difference was Hagan Honeycutt, who scored ten points and seven assists.

Houston County's defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 11-8. As for Waverly Central, their loss dropped their record down to 5-13.

Waverly Central came up short against Houston County in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, falling 61-55. Can Waverly Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.