Basketball Game Preview: Ballantyne Ridge Wolves vs. Ardrey Kell Knights

Having just played yesterday, the Ballantyne Ridge Wolves will get right back to it and host the Ardrey Kell Knights at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Ballantyne Ridge has struggled recently with 15 defeats in a row, while Ardrey Kell will arrive with three straight victories.

Ballantyne Ridge is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Central on Monday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Ballantyne Ridge came up short against Central, falling 72-46. While losing is never fun, the Wolves can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 550th in North Carolina, while the Eagles are ranked 157th in South Carolina).

Meanwhile, Ardrey Kell was able to grind out a solid win over Cuthbertson on Friday, taking the game 62-49.

Ardrey Kell's win came from a few key players Ballantyne Ridge will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Braden Suggs, who went 6 for 8 en route to 17 points and four steals. Those four steals gave him a new career-high. Bryceton Thomas was another key player, going 5 of 6 on his way to 15 points and seven rebounds.

Ardrey Kell pushed their record up to 15-3 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.3 points per game. As for Ballantyne Ridge, their loss dropped their record down to 2-17.

Ballantyne Ridge took a serious blow against Ardrey Kell in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, falling 65-21. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Thomas, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 12 boards. Now that Ballantyne Ridge knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.