The Franklin Panthers will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Hayesville Yellowjackets at 8:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Franklin comes in on four and Hayesville on three.
Even though Rabun County scored an imposing 74 points on Tuesday, Franklin still came out on top. Franklin sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 77-74 victory over Rabun County. Given Franklin's advantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 74th in North Carolina, while Rabun County is ranked 336th in Georgia), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Franklin's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Noah Brannon, who scored 23 points. The matchup was Brannon's fourth in a row with at least ten points. William Rauers was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with 3 steals.
Meanwhile, Hayesville took their game on the road on Friday with ease, bagging a 76-29 victory over Nantahala.
Franklin's win lifted them to 4-0 while Rabun County's loss dropped them down to 1-6.
Franklin didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Hayesville in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, but they still walked away with a 41-36 win. Does Franklin have another victory up their sleeve, or will Hayesville turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.