Croatan is 0-10 against Swansboro since December of 2019 but things could change on Tuesday. The Croatan Cougars will be playing in front of their home fans against the Swansboro Pirates at 8:00 p.m. One thing working in Croatan's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 11 games.
Croatan got their first taste of in-conference action this week and they started things off strong. They enjoyed a cozy 78-62 win over Dixon on Friday. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 135th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 595th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/31/25 @ Dixon | 40 |
| 01/03/25 @ Southside | 26 |
| 01/06/25 vs Lejeune | 17 |
| 01/17/25 vs White Oak | 14 |
| 01/28/25 @ Swansboro | 8 |
Croatan found their leader in sophomore Kannon McBride, who shot 7-for-13 from deep and almost dropped a double-double on 40 points and nine rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points McBride has scored all season. Jaden Hilliard was another key player, going 5 for 8 en route to 12 points and five steals.
Meanwhile, Swansboro had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 38.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Wednesday. They blew past the Wildcats 73-31. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 40-17.
Swansboro's win came from a few key players Croatan will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jermaine Cunningham, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 10 points and four steals. He is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed three or more in the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Tayvion Tangiora, who went 7 for 12 en route to 14 points along with seven boards and three blocks.
Swansboro was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Richlands only posted five assists.
Swansboro's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 80.4 points per game. As for Croatan, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Croatan and Swansboro are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Croatan hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 77.1 points per game. However, it's not like Swansboro struggles in that department as they've been averaging 72.2 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Croatan was taken down by Swansboro 99-62 in their previous matchup on Tuesday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Tangiora, who dropped a double-double on 32 points and 14 rebounds. Now that Croatan knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
