Basketball Game Preview: Ayden - Grifton Chargers vs. SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars

Two dominant guards in Hatteras Jenkins and Zy Thigpen are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Ayden - Grifton Chargers will be playing at home against the SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Ayden - Grifton got their first taste of in-conference action this week and they started things off strong. They managed a 58-53 win over North Pitt on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Chargers.

Meanwhile, SouthWest Edgecombe came tearing into Friday's matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They really took it to the Panthers for the full four quarters, racking up a 70-42 victory. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 28 points or more this season.

Ayden - Grifton better focus on containing Alijah Lassiter and Thigpen as the pair were huge in SouthWest Edgecombe's win. Lassiter went 9 of 11 on his way to 20 points, while Thigpen went 7 for 14 on his way to 18 points and three steals. Thigpen's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Xander Brown, who posted ten points.

SouthWest Edgecombe 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 games.

Ayden - Grifton is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.5 points per game. As for SouthWest Edgecombe, they pushed their record up to 9-2 with the win, which was their third straight at home.

Everything went Ayden - Grifton's way against SouthWest Edgecombe in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as Ayden - Grifton made off with a 48-27 victory. Will Ayden - Grifton repeat their success, or does SouthWest Edgecombe have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.