The Highland Tech Rams will take on the West Lincoln Rebels in a holiday battle at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Highland Tech has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.
Highland Tech is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Cherryville on Friday, sneaking past 60-58. The Rams haven't had any issues with the Ironmen recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
Highland Tech found their leader in freshman Darius Stinson Jr, who dropped a double-double with 21 points and ten boards. That makes it three consecutive games in which Stinson Jr has scored at least a third of the Rams' points. The team also got some help courtesy of Coleman Schafer, who posted 12 points.
Highland Tech was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, West Lincoln was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They were three points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 66-63 heartbreaker at the hands of North Gaston. While losing is never fun, the Rebels can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 528th, while the Wildcats are ranked 209th).
Highland Tech will have to keep a close watch on Landon Blevins and Landyn Ford, a pair of players who had a big impact on West Lincoln's prior game. Blevins earned 29 points, while Ford shot 46% from the field en route to 13 points and five rebounds. Kaeden Steele was another key player, putting up eight points in addition to 12 boards and six assists.
West Lincoln's loss dropped their record down to 1-7. As for Highland Tech, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 2-6.
Highland Tech came up short against West Lincoln when the teams last played back in December of 2021, falling 74-70. Thankfully for the Rams, Amine Cherigul (who dropped a double-double with 30 points and ten rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
