Basketball Game Preview: North Gaston Wildcats vs. Huss Huskies

North Gaston hasn't had much luck against Huss recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The North Gaston Wildcats will square off against the Huss Huskies at 7:30 p.m. That game will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Markell Carothers and Jaleel Smith.

North Gaston is headed into Tuesday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their sixth straight game on Friday. They lost to Crest at home by a 66-51 margin. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 448th, while the Chargers are ranked 56th).

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Huss' strategy against Forestview on Friday. Huss was the clear victor by a 69-46 margin over Forestview.

Huss' win came from a few key players North Gaston will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Smith, who went 6 of 13 en route to 15 points in addition to seven steals and five rebounds. His evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Zaiyir 'Zii' Phillips, who went 7 for 13 on his way to 20 points and eight assists.

Huss smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in February of 2024.

Huss has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.2 points per game. As for North Gaston, their loss dropped their record down to 6-12.

North Gaston lost to Huss on the road by a decisive 72-57 margin in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Smith, who went 11 of 19 en route to 27 points along with seven assists and six steals. Now that North Gaston knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.