Preview: Shaw Raiders vs. Carver Tigers
Shaw and Carver are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2018, but not for long. The Shaw Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Carver Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Shaw sitting on three straight wins and Carver on six.
Shaw has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matches by 24 points or more this season. They breezed by Northside at home to the tune of 62-34. Given Shaw's advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 174th, while Northside is ranked 420th), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Dorian Head, who scored 16 points. The matchup was his third in a row with at least ten points. Trey Adkins was another key contributor, scoring ten points.
Carver has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matches by 22 points or more this season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Saturday as they easily beat Carver Montgomery 75-46 at home.
Carver's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tony Montgomery , who scored 18 points. Montgomery is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jakobe Caslin, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and four steals.
Shaw's victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-2. As for Carver, their win bumped their record up to 6-0.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Shaw hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 58.2 points per game. However, it's not like Carver struggles in that department as they've been averaging 85.6 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Shaw was able to grind out a solid win over Carver in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, winning 73-63. The rematch might be a little tougher for Shaw since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
