Basketball Game Preview: North Henderson Knights vs. East Henderson Eagles

The North Henderson Knights will take on the East Henderson Eagles at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. North Henderson knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 12 matches -- so hopefully East Henderson likes a good challenge.

Last Tuesday, North Henderson lost to Franklin on the road by a 77-60 margin. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 326th, while the Panthers are ranked 134th).

Meanwhile, East Henderson put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Tuscola 74-45. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine contests by 25 points or more this season.

North Henderson better keep an eye on Caiden Brewer. He was instrumental in East Henderson's win, going 12 for 21 on his way to 34 points in addition to seven assists and five steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Brewer has scored at least a third of East Henderson's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaden Evans, who went 8 of 10 on his way to 16 points and six rebounds.

East Henderson smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive games.

North Henderson's defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 8-6. As for East Henderson, they pushed their record up to 14-0 with the victory, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season.

North Henderson came up short against East Henderson when the teams last played back in February of 2024, falling 57-47. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Brewer, who went 8 of 18 on his way to 25 points along with five assists and four steals. Now that North Henderson knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.