Basketball Game Preview: Northampton County Jaguars vs. Wilson Prep Tigers

A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Northampton County Jaguars take on the Wilson Prep Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Friday...

Last Thursday, Northampton County had to suffer through a 62-35 loss at the hands of North Edgecombe. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 494th, while the Warriors are ranked 214th).

Northampton County's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Lydia Deloatch, who went 6 for 7 on her way to 15 points, and Kaiyah Cherry, who went 5 of 7 en route to 11 points. That's the most points Deloatch has posted since back in January of 2024.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Wilson Prep). They blew past Southeast Halifax 70-17 on Tuesday. The Tigers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 25 points or more this season.

Wilson Prep found their leader in freshman Paris Best, who dropped a triple-double on 16 points, 11 assists, and ten steals. Best is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Nakiya Boston, who went 5 of 9 on her way to 14 points and three steals.

The victory (which was Wilson Prep's fifth in a row) raised their record to 11-1. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.8 points per game. As for Northampton County, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-8.

Northampton County was dealt a bruising 53-23 loss at the hands of Wilson Prep in their previous matchup back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Wilson Prep's Kaiden Brown, who went 9 of 13 on her way to 23 points. Now that Northampton County knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.