Swain County has enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Cherokee Braves at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Even though Swain County has not done well against the Bulldogs recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Swain County walked away with a 51-44 win over the Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, Cherokee had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They put the hurt on Hayesville with a sharp 85-63 win. The score was all tied up 34-34 at the break, but Cherokee was the better team in the second half.
Cherokee's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Luke Smith, who scored 22 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Smith has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Elijah Lineberry, who scored 20 points.
Swain County has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season. As for Cherokee, their win bumped their record up to 11-7.
Swain County opened the new year with a less-than-successful 85-73 loss to the Braves. Can Swain County avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.