Basketball Game Preview: Martins Ferry Purple Riders vs. Harrison Central Huskies

The Martins Ferry Purple Riders will face off against the Harrison Central Huskies at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Martins Ferry has five straight victories, Harrison Central has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Martins Ferry is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Bellaire: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Martins Ferry blew Bellaire out of the water with a 78-35 final score. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Purple Riders had established a 33 point advantage.

Meanwhile, Harrison Central took a blow against Malvern on Saturday, falling 76-47. While losing is never fun, the Huskies can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 515th, while the Hornets are ranked 154th).

Harrison Central's loss dropped their record down to 5-12. As for Martins Ferry, they pushed their record up to 8-8 with the win, which was their third straight at home.

Martins Ferry didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Harrison Central in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 66-62 victory. Will Martins Ferry repeat their success, or does Harrison Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.