Preview: North Davidson Black Knights vs. Oak Grove Grizzlies
North Davidson and Oak Grove are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The North Davidson Black Knights will head out on the road to take on the Oak Grove Grizzlies at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
North Davidson put the finishing touches on their seventh blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They breezed by Ledford at home to the tune of 71-31. Given North Davidson's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 200th, while Ledford is ranked 491st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Payton Eccles went supernova for North Davidson, scoring 17 points along with two steals. Eccles continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Justin Mabe, who scored eight points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Oak Grove lost to Central Davidson at home by a decisive 79-60 margin on Friday. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Oak Grove in their matchups with Central Davidson: they've now lost four in a row.
North Davidson's victory bumped their record up to 14-8. As for Oak Grove, their loss dropped their record down to 10-12.
North Davidson strolled past Oak Grove in their previous matchup two weeks ago by a score of 74-55. The rematch might be a little tougher for North Davidson since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
