Basketball Game Preview: Martin County Cardinals vs. Johnson Central Golden Eagles

Martin County and Johnson Central are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2019, but not for long. The Martin County Cardinals will head out to square off against the Johnson Central Golden Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Martin County knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 12 matchups -- so hopefully Johnson Central likes a good challenge.

Martin County is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Everglades just ended the team's seven-game winning streak on Monday. They fell just short of the Gators by a score of 69-67. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Cardinals came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 27th in Kentucky, while the Gators are ranked 223rd in Florida).

Meanwhile, Johnson Central was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Saturday as they fell 67-61 to Stone Memorial. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (57), the Golden Eagles still had to take the loss.

Johnson Central's loss dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Martin County, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-2.

Martin County was able to grind out a solid win over Johnson Central when the teams last played back in February, winning 103-94. Will Martin County repeat their success, or does Johnson Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.