Preview: West Henderson Falcons vs. Franklin Panthers
West Henderson and Franklin are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2015, but not for long. The West Henderson Falcons will head out on the road to take on the Franklin Panthers at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Even though Pisgah scored an imposing 63 points on Friday, West Henderson still came out on top. West Henderson took their game against Pisgah 71-63. That's two games straight that West Henderson has won by exactly eight points.
West Henderson's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Truitt Manuel led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on 17 points and nine assists. Jackson Lyda was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, even though Swain County scored an imposing 63 points on Wednesday, Franklin still came out on top. Franklin walked away with a 71-63 victory over Swain County. The win made it back-to-back wins for Franklin.
Max Mcclure was his usual excellent self, scoring 26 points along with two steals. He is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last six games he's played. Another player making a difference was Braylen Dezarn, who scored 16 points along with four steals.
West Henderson is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season. As for Franklin, their victory bumped their record up to 15-7.
Everything went West Henderson's way against Franklin in their previous matchup back in January as West Henderson made off with a 64-44 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for West Henderson since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
