Basketball Game Preview: Franklin Cougars vs. Eastlake Falcons

Franklin has gone 8-2 against Eastlake recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Franklin Cougars will challenge the Eastlake Falcons at 7:30 p.m. Franklin is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.2 points per game this season.

Franklin took a loss when they played away from home two weeks ago, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Friday. They blew past Socorro 81-19. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 26 points or more this season.

Franklin's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Allison De La O, who almost dropped a double-double on 20 points and nine steals. The dominant performance gave De La O a new career-high in steals. Another player making a difference was Isabella Lee, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 15 boards.

Franklin smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 22 consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Eastlake was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They came up short against Mayfield, falling 61-41. While losing is never fun, the Falcons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 278th in Texas, while the Trojans are ranked seventh in New Mexico).

Franklin has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.1 points per game. As for Eastlake, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-6.

Franklin was able to grind out a solid victory over Eastlake in their previous meeting back in January, winning 45-35. The rematch might be a little tougher for Franklin since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.