Basketball Game Preview: North Gaston Wildcats vs. Ashbrook Greenwave

North Gaston hasn't had much luck against Ashbrook recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The North Gaston Wildcats are taking a road trip to challenge the Ashbrook Greenwave at 7:30 p.m. North Gaston has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

North Gaston is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They were dealt a 102-74 loss at the hands of Kings Mountain on Tuesday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Monday (59), the Wildcats still had to take the loss.

North Gaston might have lost, but man, Markell Carothers was a machine: he went 8 for 20 on his way to 25 points in addition to eight rebounds and five assists. That's the most assists Carothers has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Jalen Howard, who went 9 for 18 on his way to 19 points and eight rebounds.

Even though they lost, North Gaston smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Ashbrook had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.4 points) and they went ahead and made it 11 on Tuesday. They blew past the Jaguars 85-56. The Greenwave have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 23 points or more this season.

Ashbrook pushed their record up to 13-2 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 76.2 points per game. As for North Gaston, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-9.

North Gaston suffered a grim 84-62 defeat to Ashbrook when the teams last played back in February of 2024. Can North Gaston avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.