Basketball Game Preview: Lejeune Devil Pups vs. Southside Seahawks

The Lejeune Devil Pups and the Southside Seahawks will face off at 6:00 p.m. on Friday without much rest having both just played. Lejeune has now lost eight straight, leaving the team hunting for their first win since December 6.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 65-20, which was the final score in Lejeune's tilt against Pamlico County on Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Devil Pups can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 551st, while the Hurricanes are ranked 95th).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Southside). They blew past Mattamuskeet 60-13 on Thursday. The Seahawks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 23 points or more this season.

Southside's win came from a few key players Lejeune will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Skye Wilkins, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 16 rebounds. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Michelle Brown, who almost dropped a double-double on 12 points and nine rebounds.

Southside smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in ten consecutive games.

Southside pushed their record up to 9-4 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.8 points per game. As for Lejeune, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-11.

Lejeune took a serious blow against Southside in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 51-11. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Southside's Tamya Smith, who posted 19 points. Now that Lejeune knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.