Basketball Game Preview: Fayette Ware Wildcats vs. Haywood Tomcats

Fayette Ware and Haywood are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2021, but not for long. The Fayette Ware Wildcats will be playing in front of their home fans against the Haywood Tomcats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Fayette Ware knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past nine contests -- so hopefully Haywood likes a good challenge.

Fayette Ware is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Bolton 82-40 on Tuesday. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 48-18.

Fayette Ware's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Tacarien Freeman led the charge by putting up 19 points along with eight assists and five boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Tarecous Stevens, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Fayette Ware smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 25 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive rebounds in nine consecutive games.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Haywood beat Bolivar Central 66-61 on Tuesday. That's two games straight that the Tomcats have won by exactly five points.

Haywood is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a massive bump to their 11-10 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.8 points per game. As for Fayette Ware, they pushed their record up to 14-5 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home.

Fayette Ware was able to grind out a solid victory over Haywood in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, winning 58-50. Does Fayette Ware have another victory up their sleeve, or will Haywood turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.