Basketball Game Preview: Haywood Tomcats vs. Trinity Christian Academy Lions

The Haywood Tomcats and the Trinity Christian Academy Lions will face off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Haywood is headed into the game having just suffered their closest defeat since December 5, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Ripley by a score of 71-68.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Lekendric Phillips, who went 10 for 17 on his way to 24 points and eight assists. His evening made it six games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Josiah Starks, who went 5 of 11 en route to 15 points and four steals.

Meanwhile, Trinity Christian Academy came tearing into Friday's contest with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.5 points) and they left with even more momentum. They claimed a resounding 79-43 victory over the Vikings. Given the Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 33rd, while the Vikings are ranked 173rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Trinity Christian Academy has also been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.1 points per game. As for Haywood, their loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-10.

Haywood took their win against Trinity Christian Academy when the teams last played back in December of 2019 by a conclusive 58-35. Will Haywood repeat their success, or does Trinity Christian Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.