Preview: Douglas Byrd Eagles vs. Lumberton Pirates
Douglas Byrd is 0-6 against Lumberton since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Douglas Byrd Eagles will look to defend their home court against the Lumberton Pirates at 6:00 p.m. Hopefully Douglas Byrd focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 45 on Tuesday.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 83-43, which was the final score in Douglas Byrd's tilt against Cape Fear. While losing is never fun, Douglas Byrd can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 451st, while Cape Fear is ranked 26th).
Douglas Byrd's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Gemaiyia Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Jazmine Burns who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds. That was a full 39.5% of Douglas Byrd's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Lumberton has not had quite the year their fans were hoping for to this point, but back-to-back wins may be a sign of good things to come. They enjoyed a cozy 50-35 win over Gray's Creek on Wednesday.
Lumberton found their leader in underclassman Charley Whitley, who scored 22 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Whitley has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrea Brown, who scored nine points.
Douglas Byrd has been struggling recently as they've lost nine of their last ten matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-16 record this season. As for Lumberton, their victory bumped their record up to 6-13.
Friday's game is shaping up to be a scrappy contest: Douglas Byrd have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.2 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Lumberton, though, as they've been averaging only 13.6 rebounds per game. Given Douglas Byrd's sizable advantage in that area, Lumberton will need to find a way to close that gap.
Douglas Byrd was dealt a bruising 70-35 defeat at the hands of Lumberton when the teams last played back in January. The matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Douglas Byrd was down 41-17.
