Basketball Game Preview: Panther Creek Panthers vs. Sanger Indians

The Panther Creek Panthers will face off against the Sanger Indians at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Panther Creek's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last five games.

Panther Creek is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. Everything went their way against Gainesville on Tuesday as Panther Creek made off with an 86-65 victory. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 84th, while the Leopards are ranked 365th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Panther Creek's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from XAVIER RAINWATER, who went 6 for 8 en route to 16 points. The dominant performance gave RAINWATER a new career-high in points. SABIEN MCGRAW was another key player, putting up 18 points.

Panther Creek smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Sanger hadn't done well against Aubrey recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Sanger sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 58-56 win over Aubrey. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Indians.

Panther Creek is also on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 contests, which provided a massive bump to their 20-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.1 points per game. As for Sanger, their victory bumped their record up to 20-5.

Panther Creek strolled past Sanger when the teams last played back in December of 2024 by a score of 71-56. The rematch might be a little tougher for Panther Creek since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.