Preview: Southwestern Randolph Cougars vs. Trinity Bulldogs
Two dominant guards in Nathan Ellis and Dominic Payne are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Southwestern Randolph Cougars will head out on the road to take on the Trinity Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Southwestern Randolph had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They came out on top against North Moore by a score of 66-55. That's two games straight that Southwestern Randolph has won by exactly 11 points.
Southwestern Randolph's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Marcus Robertson, who scored 19 points along with six rebounds, and Ellis, who scored 27 points along with five rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Ellis has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Brayden Chapman, who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, Trinity fought the good fight in their overtime game against Randleman on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell to the Tigers 74-69. Trinity has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Payne, who almost dropped a triple-double on 21 points, nine rebounds, and ten assists. Payne is absolutely dominating the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Brandon Campbell, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds.
Southwestern Randolph's win bumped their record up to 6-12. As for Trinity, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 11-7.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Southwestern Randolph have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Trinity struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Southwestern Randolph came up short against Trinity when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 69-56. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Payne, who dropped a double-double on 35 points and 11 rebounds. Now that Southwestern Randolph knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
