Basketball Game Preview: Cook Hornets vs. Appling County Pirates

The Cook Hornets and the Appling County Pirates will face off at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played.

Cook is headed into the contest having just suffered their biggest defeat since December 10, 2024 on Friday. They lost 56-36 to Tattnall County. While losing is never fun, the Hornets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 337th, while the Warriors are ranked 154th).

Meanwhile, Appling County waltzed into their game on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They really took it to the Bears for the full four quarters, racking up a 64-17 victory. With that win, the Pirates brought their scoring average up to 50.4 points per game.

Appling County had a senior duo take command as Perri Mitchell dropped a double-double on ten points and 16 rebounds and Keniyah White posted 21 points and four steals. The match was White's sixth in a row with at least ten points. Lay Simpson was another key player, putting up six points in addition to eight boards and four steals.

Appling County smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 31 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 18 offensive boards in three consecutive contests.

Appling County's victory was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-7. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.7 points per game. As for Cook, their loss dropped their record down to 7-9.