Basketball Game Preview: Columbus East Olympians vs. Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs

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Previous Games

12/14/24 - Away	64-50 W
12/09/23 - Home	46-53 L
02/13/23 - Away	55-68 L
02/12/22 - Home	59-52 W
02/13/21 - Away	54-67 L
+ 5 more games

Columbus East and Franklin Community are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2016, but not for long. The Columbus East Olympians will take on the Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Columbus East will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.

Columbus East is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Columbus North with a sharp 64-41 victory. The win was all the more spectacular given the Olympians' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 77th, while the Bull Dogs are ranked 20th).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Franklin Community). They escaped with a win on Friday against Jennings County by the margin of a single free throw, 73-72. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Grizzly Cubs have posted since November 26, 2024.

Columbus East better keep an eye on Tony Barnes. He was instrumental in Franklin Community's win, going 11-for-15 to rack up 28 points and six boards. The dominant performance gave Barnes a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Omari Thomas, who posted 16 points and eight rebounds.

Columbus East's win bumped their record up to 14-9. As for Franklin Community, their victory bumped their record up to 8-13.

Columbus East strolled past Franklin Community in their previous meeting back in December of 2024 by a score of 64-50. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Franklin Community's Kolt Nelson, who dropped a double-double with 19 points and 12 boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Columbus East still be able to contain Nelson? There's only one way to find out.