Preview: Knightdale Knights vs. Sanderson Spartans
Knightdale and Sanderson are an even 5-5 against one another since November of 2016, but not for long. The Knightdale Knights will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against the Sanderson Spartans at 6:30 p.m. on December 19th. Knightdale will be strutting in after a victory while Sanderson will be coming in after a defeat.
Even though East Wake scored an imposing 57 points on Friday, Knightdale still came out on top. Knightdale enjoyed a cozy 71-57 win over East Wake. Given Knightdale's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 109th, while East Wake is ranked 359th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Knightdale's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brandon Adams, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. Those 14 points set a new season-high mark for him. Khaim Taylor was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Sanderson pushed their score all the way to 63 last Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 64-63 to Heritage. Sanderson's loss continues a unfortunate trend for the team, making it three in a row.
Nathan Fife put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored 23 points along with five steals. The match was his fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kendrick Pulley, who scored ten points.
Knightdale is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-2 record this season. As for Sanderson, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-3.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Knightdale hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 62.9 points per game. However, it's not like Sanderson struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 53.3 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.
Knightdale came up short against Sanderson in their previous matchup back in December of 2022, falling 53-44. Can Knightdale avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
