Preview: Lakewood Leopards vs. North Duplin Rebels
Lakewood is 8-2 against North Duplin since February of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Lakewood Leopards will be playing at home against the North Duplin Rebels at 7:30 p.m. North Duplin took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Lakewood, who comes in off a win.
Lakewood scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 70-49 margin over Union. The win was a breath of fresh air for Lakewood as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
It was another big night for Kristofer Robinson, who scored 20 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Juan Parker Jr., who scored 15 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, North Duplin struggled with threes on Tuesday (Neuse Charter had five more) and sadly the final score reflected it. North Duplin took a hard 64-47 fall against Neuse Charter. North Duplin has struggled against Neuse Charter recently, as their matchup on Tuesday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, North Duplin got a solid performance out of Micah Lesesane, who scored 14 points. Another player making a difference was Dujuan Armwood, who scored nine points along with five rebounds.
Lakewood's victory bumped their record up to 4-5. As for North Duplin, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost six of their last seven contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-9 record this season.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Lakewood hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 54.3 points per game. It's a different story for North Duplin, though, as they've been averaging only 62.6 points per game. The only thing between Lakewood and another offensive beatdown is North Duplin. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Everything went Lakewood's way against North Duplin in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 as Lakewood made off with a 71-51 win. With Lakewood ahead 42-22 at the half, the game was all but over already.
