Basketball Game Preview: Croatan Cougars vs. White Oak Vikings

Croatan is 0-10 against White Oak since December of 2017 but things could change on Friday. The Croatan Cougars will face off against the White Oak Vikings at 8:00 p.m. Croatan knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 13 games -- so hopefully White Oak likes a good challenge.

On Wednesday, Croatan humbled Dixon with a 90-48 victory. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 143rd, while the Bulldogs are ranked 595th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Croatan's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Trey Jones, who went 11 of 24 on his way to 33 points in addition to eight rebounds and seven assists, and Kannon McBride, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 12 boards. McBride is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last five games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Matthew Crittenden, who posted nine points and five rebounds.

Croatan smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask White Oak). They breezed by Richlands to the tune of 79-39 on Tuesday. The win was nothing new for the Vikings as they're now sitting on four straight.

Croatan has also been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. As for White Oak, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-5.

Croatan came up short against White Oak in their previous matchup back in January, falling 64-56. Can Croatan avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.