Basketball Game Preview: Smith County Owls vs. White County Warriors

The Smith County Owls will face off against the White County Warriors at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Smith County is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering York Institute just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Friday. They took a 56-46 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Dragons. While losing is never fun, the Owls can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 68th, while the Dragons are ranked 19th).

Meanwhile, White County had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20 points) and they went ahead and made it eight on Friday. They walked away with a 52-44 win over the Wildcats.

White County's win came from a few key players Smith County will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Gracie Clark, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten boards. Ava Jones was another key player, dropping a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds.

White County's victory was their 18th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 21-2. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points per game. As for Smith County, their loss was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 12-6.

Smith County ended up a good deal behind White County in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, losing 69-52. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of White County's Lakelyn Grasty, who went 9 for 15 en route to 26 points. Now that Smith County knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.