Basketball Game Preview: St. Stephens Indians vs. North Lincoln Knights

St. Stephens is 1-6 against North Lincoln since January of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The St. Stephens Indians will be playing at home against the North Lincoln Knights at 7:45 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Tuesday, St. Stephens was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 78-73 to Hickory. While losing is never fun, the Indians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 354th, while the Red Tornadoes are ranked 63rd).

North Lincoln played in conference for the first time on Tuesday and they got just the result they we're looking for. They blew past North Iredell, posting an 88-47 victory. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 26 points or more this season.

North Lincoln's win came from a few key players St. Stephens will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Beckett Rinkus, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Kellen Karr, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 13 boards.

North Lincoln smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in eight consecutive games.

North Lincoln is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 78.8 points per game. As for St. Stephens, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-8.

St. Stephens couldn't quite finish off North Lincoln when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 80-78. Can St. Stephens avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.