East Rutherford hasn't had much luck against Shelby recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The East Rutherford Cavaliers will look to defend their home court against the Shelby Golden Lions at 7:30 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Monday, East Rutherford ended up a good deal behind Hendersonville and lost 76-59. While losing is never fun, the Cavaliers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 519th, while the Bearcats are ranked 229th).
| 01/20/25 @ Hendersonville | 15 |
| 02/19/24 vs Chase | 13 |
| 01/17/25 @ Polk County | 11 |
| 11/20/24 @ Newton-Conover | 10 |
| 12/14/24 @ Lincolnton | 10 |
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Eli Roof, who went 6 for 9 on his way to 15 points and six boards. Those 15 points gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jj Arrowood, who posted eight points and four steals.
Even though they lost, East Rutherford smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in ten consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, Shelby's good fortune finally ran out on Wednesday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 71-70 to Crest.
East Rutherford will have to keep a close watch on Lan Farmer and Omari Whiteside, a pair of players who had a big impact on Shelby's prior game. Farmer dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds, while Whiteside went 6 of 11 en route to 17 points and seven assists. Shelby is 7-3 when Farmer posts ten or more boards, but 1-3 otherwise. Grady Morgan was another key player, putting up 11 points.
East Rutherford's defeat dropped their record down to 3-13. As for Shelby, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: East Rutherford has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 29.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Shelby struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.6 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
East Rutherford came up short against Shelby in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, falling 74-70. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Whiteside, who went 9 for 16 on his way to 26 points in addition to five assists and five steals. Now that East Rutherford knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
