Preview: Lejeune Devil Pups vs. Northside - Pinetown Panthers
Lejeune is 1-9 against Northside - Pinetown since January of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Lejeune Devil Pups will head out on the road to square off against the Northside - Pinetown Panthers at 8:00 p.m. Lejeune is hoping to put an end to a five-game streak of away losses.
Lejeune pushed their score all the way to 62 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 72-62 to Pamlico County. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game two weeks ago (61), Lejeune still had to take the loss.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Devon Charles, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and ten rebounds. He hasn't dropped below 15points for three straight games. Trevor Highsmith was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds.
Even though they lost, Lejeune were working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Pamlico County only racked up 13 assists.
In what's become a running theme this season, Northside - Pinetown gave their fans yet another huge victory on Tuesday. They breezed by Jones at home to the tune of 71-42. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Northside - Pinetown has posted since November 30, 2023.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Northside - Pinetown to victory, but perhaps none more so than Griffin Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 14 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Tate Gibbs, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Lejeune has been struggling recently, as they've lost six of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-7 record this season. As for Northside - Pinetown, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 13-5.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Lejeune hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 61.5 points per game. It's a different story for Northside - Pinetown, though, as they've been averaging only 64.6 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.
Lejeune couldn't quite finish off Northside - Pinetown when the teams last played back in February of 2023 and fell 69-66. Can Lejeune avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
