Preview: Hagerstown Tigers vs. Franklin County Wildcats
The Hagerstown Tigers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Franklin County Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hagerstown is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'.
Hagerstown suffered their closest loss yet this season on Thursday. They fell just short of Cambridge City Lincoln by a score of 50-47.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Kasiti Ferriell, who scored 14 points along with five steals. She has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Elly Cheeseman, who scored 15 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, things could have been worse for Franklin County, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 68-50 loss to Greensburg on Saturday. While losing is never fun, Franklin County can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 109th, while Greensburg is ranked 27th).
Despite their loss, Franklin County saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Nicole Mears, who scored 20 points along with nine rebounds and two steals, was perhaps the best of all. That was a full 40% of Franklin County's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ruby Singer, who scored 14 points.
Hagerstown's loss was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 0-16. As for Franklin County, their loss dropped their record down to 11-5.
Saturday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy matchup: Hagerstown have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 21.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Franklin County struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 31.8 rebounds per game. Given Hagerstown's sizeable advantage in that area, Franklin County will need to find a way to close that gap.
Hagerstown was taken down by Franklin County 49-10 in their previous meeting back in January of 2023. Will Hagerstown have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
