St. Stephens is 0-9 against East Lincoln since January of 2022 but things could change on Friday. The St. Stephens Indians will venture away from home to face off against the East Lincoln Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. That match will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Kennedy Blevins and Emma Montanari.
St. Stephens is headed into Friday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Tuesday. They took a 57-47 hit to the loss column at the hands of North Lincoln. While losing is never fun, the Indians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 328th, while the Knights are ranked 40th).
Despite the loss, St. Stephens got top-tier performance from Blevins, who went 6 of 11 from beyond the arc en route to 29 points. That was a full 61.7% of St. Stephens' points, marking the 17th time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sydney Barkley, who earned two points and eight boards.
Meanwhile, East Lincoln came tearing into Tuesday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They enjoyed a cozy 57-40 victory over the Tigers.
St. Stephens better focus on containing Taniyah Thomas and Lane Pethel as the pair were huge in East Lincoln's win. Thomas scored 13 points along with seven assists and seven rebounds, while Pethel dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten boards. Thomas has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 22 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Maddie Matz, who put up six points.
East Lincoln smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 52 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
St. Stephens' defeat dropped their record down to 7-14. As for East Lincoln, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: St. Stephens has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24 rebounds per game. However, it's not like East Lincoln struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
St. Stephens was dealt a bruising 68-26 loss at the hands of East Lincoln in their previous matchup back in January. Can St. Stephens avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
