Basketball Game Preview: Seventy-First Falcons vs. Lumberton Pirates

Seventy-First is 8-2 against Lumberton since January of 2020 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Seventy-First Falcons will welcome the Lumberton Pirates at 6:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Seventy-First has six straight wins, Lumberton has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Thursday, Seventy-First didn't have too much trouble with Jack Britt as they won 61-42. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 64th, while the Buccaneers are ranked 279th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Seventy-First to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jewel Gully, who posted 18 points in addition to six boards and six steals. Gully is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 12 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Kariana Williams, who had 13 points in addition to seven steals and five assists.

Seventy-First smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in 36 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Lumberton was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Thursday as they fell 45-39 to Gray's Creek. While the Pirates didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Bears 15-8 in the first quarter.

Lumberton's loss dropped their record down to 7-7. As for Seventy-First, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season.

Seventy-First came out on top in a nail-biter against Lumberton when the teams last played back in February of 2024, sneaking past 64-62. Will Seventy-First repeat their success, or does Lumberton have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.