South View hasn't had much luck against Lumberton recently, but that could start to change on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the South View Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Lumberton Pirates at 7:30 p.m. South View knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 16 matchups -- so hopefully Lumberton likes a good challenge.
On Thursday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, South View beat Jack Britt 59-55. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 177th, while the Buccaneers are ranked 421st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Lumberton waltzed into their game on Wednesday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They blew past the Rams, posting a 78-42 win. The Pirates have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 22 points or more this season.
South View better keep an eye on Jaiden Shephard. He was instrumental in Lumberton's win, dropping a double-double on 19 points and 18 rebounds. Shephard is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last 40 games he's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Christopher Hammonds, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
Lumberton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive matchups.
South View has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a massive bump to their 12-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.2 points per game. As for Lumberton, their victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-3.
South View took their win against Lumberton in their previous meeting on January 7th by a conclusive 69-47. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Shephard, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 25 boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will South View still be able to contain Shephard? There's only one way to find out.
