Basketball Game Preview: Vance County Vipers vs. J.F. Webb Warriors

Vance County and J.F. Webb are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2019, but not for long. The Vance County Vipers will venture away from home to challenge the J.F. Webb Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Vance County has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with three straight losses, while J.F. Webb will come in with four straight wins.

Vance County is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against South Granville on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Vance County took a blow against South Granville, falling 88-44. While losing is never fun, the Vipers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 530th, while the Vikings are ranked 136th).

Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but J.F. Webb ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They came out on top against Louisburg by a score of 61-54.

Vance County better focus on containing Jaydan Hester and Daniel Wright as the pair were huge in J.F. Webb's win. Hester went 7 for 13 en route to 25 points and three steals, while Wright almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine boards. The dominant performance gave Hester a new career-high in points. Joshua Barnette was another key player, putting up 11 points and seven rebounds.

J.F. Webb smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive boards in three consecutive games.

J.F. Webb's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-5. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 78.0 points per game. As for Vance County, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-13.

Vance County couldn't quite finish off J.F. Webb when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 71-69. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Barnette, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 11 boards. Now that Vance County knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.