Basketball Game Preview: John Battle Trojans vs. Panther Creek Catamounts

The John Battle Trojans and the Panther Creek Catamounts will round out the year against one another at at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

On Monday, John Battle beat Sullivan East 63-51.

Meanwhile, Panther Creek posted their biggest victory since February 20th on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Apex as Panther Creek made off with a 69-43 win. Given the Catamounts' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 204th, while the Cougars are ranked 469th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

John Battle better focus on containing Camden Hill and Savion Mitchell as the pair were huge in Panther Creek's win. Hill dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten boards, while Mitchell dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 boards. Another player making a difference was Justin Frye, who posted nine points and five rebounds.

Panther Creek smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've posted since back in January.

Panther Creek is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.0 points per game. As for John Battle, their victory ended a five-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-5.