Basketball Recap: Statesville Picks Up Fifth Consecutive Win

Greyhounds

Previous 5 Games

01/21/25 vs Hickory	71-62
01/17/25 vs St. Stephens	75-51
01/15/25 vs North Iredell	88-47
01/09/25 @ West Iredell	78-76
01/07/25 @ Foard	67-57

Statesville had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.3 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They walked away with a 71-62 win over the Hickory Red Tornadoes. For the Greyhounds, this counts as revenge for the 89-64 victory the Red Tornadoes walked away with the last time they faced one another back in February of 2024.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Statesville to victory, but perhaps none more so than Manuel (MJ) Gladden, who almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine boards. Another player making a difference was Caleb Tillman, who went 7 for 14 on his way to 18 points.

Statesville smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in three consecutive matches.

Statesville is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.8 points per game. As for Hickory, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-3.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Statesville will face off against North Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. North Lincoln knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 15 contests -- so hopefully Statesville likes a good challenge. As for Hickory, they will square off against East Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hickory is on a 20-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), East Lincoln a four-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court.