The Southern Wake Academy Lions and the Clover Garden School Grizzlies will compete for holiday cheer at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Southern Wake Academy is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their game on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 95-13 victory over Triangle Math & Science. The Lions have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 23 points or more this season.
Ira Wilson was his usual excellent self, dropping a triple-double on 14 points, 11 rebounds, and ten assists. Another player making a difference was William Knight, who went 7 of 9 en route to 15 points along with eight boards and four steals.
They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Southern Wake Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 27 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Clover Garden School over Ascend Leadership in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Clover Garden School blew Ascend Leadership out of the water with a 68-37 final score. The Grizzlies pushed the score to 54-27 by the end of the third, a deficit the Aviators had little chance of recovering from.
Southern Wake Academy better keep an eye on Brayden DeAlto. He was instrumental in Clover Garden School's win, going 10 of 16 on his way to 24 points in addition to eight boards and four steals. DeAlto has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Charlie Castaneo, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 boards.
Southern Wake Academy's win was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.1 points per game. As for Clover Garden School, their victory ended a six-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Southern Wake Academy has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Clover Garden School struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Southern Wake Academy against Clover Garden School in their previous meeting back in January, as the team secured a 75-25 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Southern Wake Academy since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
