Preview: North Surry Greyhounds vs. Wilkes Central Eagles
The North Surry Greyhounds will head out on the road to face off against the Wilkes Central Eagles at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully North Surry focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Friday.
Last Friday, North Surry had to suffer through a rough 81-52 loss at the hands of Reagan. While losing is never fun, North Surry can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 325th, while Reagan is ranked 55th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Fisher Leftwich, who scored 11 points along with five assists and three steals. Those three steals set a new season-high mark for him. Another player making a difference was Julius Brintle, who scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, Wilkes Central is still undefeated this season after their contest against Bunker Hill on Tuesday, but Bunker Hill came as close as anyone has to beating them. Wilkes Central had just enough and edged Bunker Hill out 72-69. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Wilkes Central's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Noah Mcneil led the charge by scoring 22 points along with seven rebounds. Mcneil continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. Tyson Owens was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for North Surry and nudges their season record down to 2-2. As for Wilkes Central, they pushed their record up to 6-0 with that victory, which was their third straight on the road.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: North Surry have been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 40% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Wilkes Central struggles in that department as they've made 45% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for North Surry against Wilkes Central in their previous meeting back in January as the squad secured a 87-52 win. Does North Surry have another victory up their sleeve, or will Wilkes Central turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
