Basketball Game Preview: South Mecklenburg Sabres vs. Myers Park Mustangs

The South Mecklenburg Sabres will face off against the Myers Park Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in South Mecklenburg's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 12 contests.

South Mecklenburg had to skate by with only a three-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 20-point drubbing they dealt Ballantyne Ridge on Tuesday. South Mecklenburg put the hurt on Ballantyne Ridge with a sharp 71-51 win. Given the Sabres' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 101st, while the Wolves are ranked 546th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jim Gatehouse

Points

02/11/25 @ Ballantyne Ridge	25
02/07/25 @ Ardrey Kell	16
01/31/25 vs Palisades	10
01/28/25 @ Berry	9
01/24/25 vs Olympic	8
+ 17 more games

It was another big night for Jim Gatehouse, who went 10-for-15 en route to 25 points. He continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last five games he's played. Ben Houpt was another key player, going 6-for-10 from beyond the arc on his way to 18 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Myers Park was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 77-71 to Berry. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (68), the Mustangs still had to take the loss.

South Mecklenburg will have to contain Bram Early as he made an impact in Myers Park's last game. He posted 22 points. The game was Early's fifth in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ayo Awosanya, who went 6-for-10 to rack up 15 points and five boards.

South Mecklenburg has been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.3 points over those games. As for Myers Park, their loss dropped their record down to 12-11.

South Mecklenburg was able to grind out a solid victory over Myers Park in their previous matchup back in January, winning 71-63. Will South Mecklenburg repeat their success, or does Myers Park have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.