Even though the Smoky Mountain Mustangs scored an imposing 60 points on Tuesday, the Franklin Panthers still came out on top. Franklin blew past Smoky Mountain 82-60. Given Franklin's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 187th, while Smoky Mountain is ranked 499th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Max Mcclure was his usual excellent self, scoring 47 points along with seven steals and six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Brannon, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Smoky Mountain's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Custer Prenger, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. Prenger has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Ace Prenger, who scored 16 points.
Even though they lost, Smoky Mountain were working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. This was only their 14th loss (out of 18 games) when they've passed the ball that well.
Franklin has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season. As for Smoky Mountain, they are on a seven-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-18.
Franklin won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Swain County at 8:00 p.m. on February 7th. As for Smoky Mountain, they will head out on the road to take on Tuscola at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Smoky Mountain is coming into the game with 15 straight defeats on the road, meaning Tuscola will have to defend against a team hungry for a victory.
