Basketball Game Preview: Croatan Cougars vs. Dixon Bulldogs

Croatan is 9-1 against Dixon since February of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The two teams will face off at 6:30 p.m. without much rest having both just played. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Croatan has five straight wins, Dixon has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

On Tuesday, Croatan got the win against Swansboro by a conclusive 50-28. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 22 points or more this season.

Neely McMannen continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 8 of 15 en route to 20 points and four steals. She has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last seven times she's played. Leah Johnson was another key player, putting up eight points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Dixon played a tough game on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They came up short against West Carteret, falling 56-35. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 497th, while the Patriots are ranked 239th).

Croatan pushed their record up to 11-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.0 points per game. As for Dixon, their loss dropped their record down to 3-12.

Croatan strolled past Dixon in their previous matchup on Friday by a score of 45-26. Does Croatan have another victory up their sleeve, or will Dixon turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.