Basketball Game Preview: Palisades Pumas vs. Ardrey Kell Knights

Two dominant guards in Jayen Reeves and Brett Freeman are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Palisades Pumas will be playing at home against the Ardrey Kell Knights at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Palisades has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.

Palisades is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Ballantyne Ridge 83-50 on Friday. Given the Pumas' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 156th, while the Wolves are ranked 545th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Kingston Henry

Field Goal Percentage

02/07/25 @ Ballantyne Ridge	59%
02/04/25 @ Olympic	36%

Kingston Henry had an outrageously good game as he went 10 for 17 to rack up 31 points and three steals. Thanks to that strong game, he now owns an excellent 50% shooting accuracy. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Hunter, who made all 6 shots he took for 13 points.

Palisades smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in three consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, it was close, but on Tuesday Ardrey Kell sidestepped Olympic for a 49-47 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Knights have posted against the Trojans since February 8, 2022.

Palisades now has a winning record of 12-11. As for Ardrey Kell, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matches, which somehow still isn't as good as their 18-5 record this season.

Palisades didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Ardrey Kell in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 49-43 victory. Will Palisades repeat their success, or does Ardrey Kell have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.