Basketball Game Preview: Portland Panthers vs. Macon County Tigers

A feisty cat fight will be fought as the Panthers face off against the Tigers on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Portland is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed past Maplewood to the tune of 73-45 on Friday. Portland has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Macon County waltzed into their match back in February with five straight wins... but they left with six. They claimed a resounding 51-15 win over the Blue Devils. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 108th, while the Blue Devils are ranked 318th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Macon County's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-9. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points over those games. As for Portland, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 21-10 record this season.

Portland came up short against Macon County in their previous meeting back in February, falling 45-35. Can Portland avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.