Basketball Game Preview: Leesville Road Pride vs. Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders

The Leesville Road Pride will head out to square off against the Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Leesville Road knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past eight contests -- so hopefully Cardinal Gibbons likes a good challenge.

On Tuesday, Leesville Road didn't have too much trouble with Athens Drive as they won 80-64. Given the Pride's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 74th, while the Jaguars are ranked 232nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Gibbons lost to Broughton on the road by a 63-44 margin on Tuesday. The matchup marked the Crusaders' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Leesville Road has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.8 points per game. As for Cardinal Gibbons, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-8.

Leesville Road came out on top in a nail-biter against Cardinal Gibbons in their previous meeting back in January, sneaking past 71-68. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Cardinal Gibbons' Cash McSweeney, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 12 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Leesville Road still be able to contain McSweeney? There's only one way to find out.