Basketball Game Preview: Jennings County Panthers vs. Columbus East Olympians

Two dominant guards in Carter Kent and Keaton Lawson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Jennings County Panthers will be playing at home against the Columbus East Olympians at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Jennings County is coming into the matchup on a four-game losing streak.

Jennings County is headed into the contest having just suffered their biggest loss since December 14, 2024 on Tuesday. They were beaten by Brownstown Central 82-54. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 93rd, while the Braves are ranked 12th).

Meanwhile, Columbus East lost to New Albany at home by a 65-50 margin on Saturday. The Olympians haven't had much luck with the Bulldogs recently, as the team's come up short the last eight times they've met.

Jennings County will need to focus on slowing down Lawson, one of several Columbus East players who made an impact when they last played. He went 7 of 16 en route to 17 points and five assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Grayson Watters, who posted nine points and seven rebounds.

Jennings County's defeat dropped their record down to 8-10. As for Columbus East, their loss dropped their record down to 11-8.

Jennings County didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Columbus East when the teams last played back in February of 2024, but they still walked away with a 70-64 victory. Will Jennings County repeat their success, or does Columbus East have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.