Martinsville hasn't had much luck against Franklin Community recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Martinsville Artesians will face off against the Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs at 7:30 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Martinsville will head into Saturday's game out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Saturday. They had to suffer through a 70-43 loss at the hands of Bloomington South. While losing is never fun, the Artesians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 253rd, while the Panthers are ranked 61st).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Ty Stroud, who posted nine points. Brodee Thacker also deserves some recognition as he posted his first assist of the season.
Meanwhile, Franklin Community didn't have quite enough to beat New Palestine on Saturday and fell 66-64.
Like Martinsville, Franklin Community lost despite seeing results from several players. Kolt Nelson led the charge by going 8 for 9 en route to 25 points in addition to seven rebounds and three blocks. Jayce Nielson was another key player, going 6 of 12 on his way to 15 points and seven assists.
Franklin Community has traveled a rocky road recently having lost five of their last six contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-9 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.5 points per game. As for Martinsville, their loss dropped their record down to 4-10.
Martinsville was taken down by Franklin Community 83-50 when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Thankfully for Martinsville, Micah Davis (who almost dropped a double-double on 25 points and nine boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
