Basketball Game Preview: West Muskingum Tornadoes vs. Maysville Panthers

West Muskingum hasn't had much luck against Maysville recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The West Muskingum Tornadoes will be playing in front of their home fans against the Maysville Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Tuesday, West Muskingum didn't have quite enough to beat Tri-Valley and fell 59-56. While losing is never fun, the Tornadoes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 257th, while the Scotties are ranked 89th).

Despite the defeat, West Muskingum saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Carter Smith went 6 for 7 en route to 14 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. Another player making a difference was Reid Lemity, who posted 11 points.

Meanwhile, Maysville waltzed into their game on Tuesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They put the hurt on the Generals with a sharp 79-55 win. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.

Maysville pushed their record up to 13-2 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. As for West Muskingum, their loss dropped their record down to 10-7.

West Muskingum might still be hurting after the 86-63 defeat they got from Maysville in their previous matchup on January 10th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Maysville's Gator Nichols, who went 11 of 20 on his way to 32 points along with six assists and four steals. Now that West Muskingum knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.