The Berkeley Stags will take on the Philip Simmons Iron Horses in a holiday battle at at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Berkeley has three straight wins, Philip Simmons has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Monday, Berkeley got the win against West Ashley by a conclusive 60-35. The Stags have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 25 points or more this season.
| 12/16/24 @ West Ashley | 3 |
| 12/13/24 vs Timberland | 4 |
| 12/11/24 vs Andrews | 5 |
Demi Gray and Amani Mccray were among the main playmakers for Berkeley as the former posted 12 points and three steals and the latter almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 11 boards. Gray has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Madison Thomas, who put up ten points and five rebounds.
Berkeley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive boards in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Philip Simmons ended up a good deal behind Wando on Monday and lost 50-31. While losing is never fun, the Iron Horses can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 147th, while the Warriors are ranked fifth).
Harper Cohen was Philip Simmons' leading scorer, having posted eight points. Germany Moore took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.
Berkeley has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 42.2 points. As for Philip Simmons, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-6.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Berkeley has been crazy accurate this season, having made 51.2% of their field goals per game. It's a different story for Philip Simmons, though, as they've only made 26.7% of their shots this season. Given Berkeley's sizable advantage in that area, Philip Simmons will need to find a way to close that gap.
Berkeley strolled past Philip Simmons in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 by a score of 50-36. Will Berkeley repeat their success, or does Philip Simmons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
