Preview: Northwood Chargers vs. North Moore Mustangs
The Northwood Chargers will look to defend their home court on Friday against the North Moore Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Northwood and Myers Park (ranked 79 and four in the MaxPreps national rankings respectively) squared off in a high-profile contest. Northwood lost to Myers Park at home by a decisive 63-47 margin on Saturday. It was the first time this season that Northwood let down their fans at home.
Drake Powell put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored 23 points along with three blocks. He has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last four times he's played. Beau Harvey was another key contributor, scoring five points along with three steals.
Northwood struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, North Moore pushed their score all the way to 57 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a hard 71-57 fall against Chatham Central. While losing is never fun, North Moore can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 525th, while Chatham Central is ranked 214th).
Despite the defeat, North Moore got a solid performance out of Colby Pennington, who shot 5-for-7 from long range and dropped a double-double on 29 points and 12 rebounds. Pennington hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Michael Copeland, who scored ten points along with five rebounds and five steals.
Northwood's loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-3. As for North Moore, they have traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-7 record this season.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy contest: Northwood have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 31.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like North Moore struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 33.7 rebounds per game. Given Northwood's sizeable advantage in that area, North Moore will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Northwood against North Moore when the teams last played back in December of 2023 as the squad secured a 81-30 win. With Northwood ahead 47-19 at the half, the match was all but over already.
