Recap: New Hanover Wildcats vs. Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders
The New Hanover Wildcats put another one in the bag on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive. They managed a 55-50 victory over Cardinal Gibbons. Given New Hanover's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 34th, while Cardinal Gibbons is ranked 267th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
New Hanover was led to victory by Zirhe Sellers and Tamorie Wilson. Sellers scored 11 points along with 5 rebounds, while Wilson scored 15 points along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Sellers continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Brianna Stanley, who scored 13 points.
Despite the defeat, Cardinal Gibbons saw an underclassman step up: Tessa Gladieux scored 26 points along with 9 rebounds. Gladieux scored a full 52% of Cardinal Gibbons' points, the seventh time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Molly Chappell, who scored 6 points along with 9 rebounds and 4 steals.
New Hanover pushed their record up to 5-0 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.8 points per game. As for Cardinal Gibbons, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-5.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. New Hanover will face off against Topsail at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Topsail focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Thursday. As for Cardinal Gibbons, they will head out on the road to face off against Jordan at 6:30 p.m. on December 18th.
