The Jackson Day Mariners will venture away from home to take on the Queen's Grant Stallions at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Jackson Day took a loss when they played away from home last Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They really took it to Sugar Creek Charter for the full four quarters, racking up a 73-5 victory. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 56-3.
Jackson Day found their leader in sophomore Tralyn Phillips, who went 9 for 20 on her way to 21 points along with six assists and six steals. Mya Young was another key player, going 6 of 14 en route to 13 points in addition to five boards and three steals.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Queen's Grant's strategy against Valor Preparatory Academy on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Queen's Grant blew Valor Preparatory Academy out of the water with an 85-19 final score. Given the Stallions' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 166th, while the Owls are ranked 620th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Queen's Grant's win came from a few key players Jackson Day will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Za'Miya Bynum, who went 15 for 24 on her way to 32 points along with eight assists and eight steals. That makes it 15 consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Queen's Grant's points. Another player making a difference was Misa Garris, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 11 steals.
Queen's Grant was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Jackson Day has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 23.7 points per game. As for Queen's Grant, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Jackson Day has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 24.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Queen's Grant struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Jackson Day ended up a good deal behind Queen's Grant in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, losing 47-31. Can Jackson Day avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
