Basketball Game Preview: West Iredell Warriors vs. North Lincoln Knights

The West Iredell Warriors will head out to square off against the North Lincoln Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: West Iredell has struggled recently with eight losses in a row, while North Lincoln will arrive with 13 straight wins.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 67-18, which was the final score in West Iredell's tilt against Hickory on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, North Lincoln humbled Foard with a 76-40 victory. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 26 points or more this season.

North Lincoln's win came from a few key players West Iredell will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ally Smith, who went 6 for 10 on her way to 17 points along with seven assists and four steals. She is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 13 games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashlyn Black, who went 7 of 13 en route to 22 points.

North Lincoln smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 11 consecutive games.

North Lincoln pushed their record up to 13-1 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 35 points. As for West Iredell, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-14.

West Iredell was dealt a bruising 63-8 loss at the hands of North Lincoln in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Smith, who almost dropped a double-double on 12 points and nine steals. Now that West Iredell knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.