Basketball Game Preview: Lafayette Hornets vs. Hilliard Red Flashes

The Lafayette Hornets will take on the Hilliard Red Flashes on Wednesday. Lafayette will be strutting in after a win while Hilliard will be coming in after a loss.

Lafayette is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. They took their match with ease, bagging a 68-36 victory over Hamilton County. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Hornets considering their 26-point performance the contest before.

Jordan Murphy and Tywan Williamson were among the main playmakers for Lafayette as the former dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten boards and the latter went 8 of 18 en route to 17 points and five rebounds. The dominant performance gave Murphy a new career-high in rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jadarius McQuay, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 13 boards.

Lafayette smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 21-21 at halftime, Hilliard was not quite Bolles' equal in the second half on Thursday. They fell 54-41 to the Bulldogs. The matchup marked the Red Flashes' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Lafayette will need focus on slowing down Cj Hall, one of several Hilliard players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Another player making a difference was King McMillan, who posted ten points.

Lafayette now has a winning record of 11-10. As for Hilliard, their defeat ended an eight-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 12-5.

Lafayette suffered a grim 76-56 defeat to Hilliard in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. Can Lafayette avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.