Preview: North Gaston Wildcats vs. South Point Red Raiders
North Gaston is 1-9 against South Point since February of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The North Gaston Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the South Point Red Raiders at 7:30 p.m. The pair have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses apiece.
Last Tuesday, North Gaston was the victim of a rough 79-54 defeat at the hands of Crest. While losing is never fun, North Gaston can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 489th, while Crest is ranked 38th).
Despite the loss, North Gaston had strong showings from Jurnee Lattimore, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine rebounds, and Markell Carothers, who scored 20 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaylen Hill, who scored four points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, South Point pushed their score all the way to 62 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They received a tough blow as they fell 79-62 to Kings Mountain. South Point found out winning isn't easy when you make seven fewer threes than your opponent.
South Point might have lost, but man, Graham Williams was a machine: he dropped a double-double on 23 points and 18 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Greyson Kines, who scored ten points along with five rebounds.
North Gaston dropped their record down to 4-19 with that defeat, which was their seventh straight at home. As for South Point, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-11.
Friday's game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: North Gaston have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 37.4% of their threes per game. However, it's not like South Point struggles in that department as they've made 49.4% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
North Gaston might still be hurting after the 83-63 loss they got from South Point when the teams last played back in January. Can North Gaston avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
