Basketball Game Preview: Unicoi County Blue Devils vs. Gibbs Eagles

Two dominant guards in Jackson Simmons and Zack Turner are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Unicoi County Blue Devils will take on the Gibbs Eagles in a tournament on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Gibbs is hoping to do what Virginia High couldn't on Saturday: put an end to Unicoi County's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Unicoi County slipped by Virginia High 62-61.

Unicoi County relied on the efforts of Kaden Cutlip, who went 6 of 11 from beyond the arc on his way to 22 points in addition to five assists and five rebounds, and Koda Cutlip, who went 7 for 15 on his way to 20 points and eight rebounds. The matchup was Kaden's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Simmons, who posted nine points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Gibbs). They blew past Cumberland Gap 86-42 on Tuesday. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-19.

Unicoi County better keep an eye on Turner. He was instrumental in Gibbs' win, going 10 of 16 on his way to 24 points in addition to seven assists and six steals. Turner is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed three or more in the last six games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Reid Daniel, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 12 points.

Unicoi County has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.7 points per game. As for Gibbs, the win got them back to even at 6-6.

Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's matchup: Unicoi County has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 10.4 three-pointers per game. However, it's not like Gibbs struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.4 threes. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.