Preview: Hurricane Tigers vs. Panguitch Bobcats
Having just played yesterday, the Hurricane Tigers will jump right back in to play the Panguitch Bobcats at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hurricane is hoping to put an end to a 13-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Hurricane pushed their score all the way to 74 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Canyon View 78-74. Despite running the score up even higher than they did last Wednesday (56), Hurricane still had to take the loss.
Despite the loss, Hurricane had strong showings from Cayleb Jackman, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Rj Hurst, who scored 26 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. Jackman scored a full 33.8% of Hurricane's points, the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brigham Kemp, who scored nine points.
Meanwhile, Panguitch waltzed into their game Wednesday with six straight wins but they left with seven. They had just enough and edged Grantsville out 75-73. Given Panguitch's advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 29th, while Grantsville is ranked 105th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Panguitch's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Cache Eyre led the charge by dropping a double-double on 27 points and 15 rebounds. Those 15 rebounds set a new season-high mark for him. Another player making a difference was Daxton Miller, who scored 19 points along with nine assists and five rebounds.
Hurricane's loss dropped their record down to 4-6. As for Panguitch, their win bumped their record up to 10-1.
Hurricane came up short against Panguitch when the teams last played back in December of 2022, falling 49-44. Can Hurricane avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
