Basketball Game Preview: Chambers Cougars vs. North Mecklenburg Vikings

The Chambers Cougars will challenge the North Mecklenburg Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Chambers knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 14 games -- so hopefully North Mecklenburg likes a good challenge.

On Tuesday, Chambers needed a bit of extra time to put away Hopewell. They enjoyed a cozy 88-74 win over the Titans. The score was all tied up 31-31 at the break, but the Cougars were the better team in the second half.

Chambers' success was spearheaded by the efforts of Markus Kerr, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and ten boards, and Tarris Bouie III, who shot 4-for-7 from downtown and dropped a double-double on 28 points and ten rebounds. Kerr's evening made it 21 games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Cameron Thompson, who posted 11 points and eight rebounds.

Chambers smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, North Mecklenburg waltzed into their match on Tuesday with ten straight wins... but they left with 11. They claimed a resounding 79-17 victory over the Hawks. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked seventh, while the Hawks are ranked 551st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

North Mecklenburg's win was their 22nd straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 19-2. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 91.0 points per game. As for Chambers, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season.

Chambers couldn't quite finish off North Mecklenburg in their previous matchup back in January and fell 76-73. Can Chambers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.