Preview: Northside - Pinetown Panthers vs. Pasquotank County Panthers
The Northside - Pinetown Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Pasquotank County Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Northside - Pinetown has nine straight wins, Pasquotank County has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Friday, Northside - Pinetown strolled past North East Carolina Prep with points to spare, taking the game 72-54. Given Northside - Pinetown's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 128th, while North East Carolina Prep is ranked 395th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Griffin Johnson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 27 points and ten rebounds. Those 27 points set a new season-high mark for him. Max Vansant was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with five assists and three steals.
Meanwhile, Pasquotank County pushed their score all the way to 66 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of Currituck County by a score of 68-66. Pasquotank County found out winning isn't easy when you don't work as a unit and post ten fewer assists than your opponent.
Despite the defeat, Pasquotank County had strong showings from Tristan Peterson, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds and five steals, and Brandon Smith, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds. Those five steals set a new season-high mark for him. Another player making a difference was Landon Kuhn, who scored eight points.
Northside - Pinetown pushed their record up to 9-0 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.7 points per game. As for Pasquotank County, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-4.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Northside - Pinetown and Pasquotank County are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Northside - Pinetown hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 67.9 points per game. However, it's not like Pasquotank County struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 58.6 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.
Northside - Pinetown strolled past Pasquotank County in their previous matchup last Friday by a score of 65-50. The rematch might be a little tougher for Northside - Pinetown since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
