Preview: Brevard Blue Devils vs. Hendersonville Bearcats
Brevard is 0-10 against Hendersonville since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Brevard Blue Devils have the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome the Hendersonville Bearcats at 8:00 p.m. on February 13th. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Brevard didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Patton, but they still walked away with a 70-65 victory. The victory was all the more spectacular given Brevard's disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 270th, while Patton is ranked 134th).
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Brevard to victory, but perhaps none more so than Tre Crite, who scored 24 points along with seven rebounds. Crite has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Baker Buchanan, who scored 28 points along with two steals.
Brevard's lineup was just a bit different on Friday as Grant Buchanan got a bit more time on the court (18 vs. his season average of 8.5). Buchanan made the most of the opportunity, scoring three points. A few more games like that and he might be seeing even more time going forward.
Meanwhile, Hendersonville came tearing into Tuesday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 36.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They enjoyed a cozy 71-54 victory over East Rutherford. Hendersonville pushed the score to 52-32 by the end of the third, a deficit East Rutherford cut but never quite recovered from.
Malachi Simpson and Cj Landrum were among the main playmakers for Hendersonville as the former scored 23 points along with eight rebounds and two steals and the latter dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten rebounds. Simpson hasn't dropped below two steals for five straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Coby Retana, who scored 11 points.
Brevard pushed their record up to 13-9 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home. As for Hendersonville, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Brevard have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Hendersonville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Brevard came up short against Hendersonville in their previous meeting back in January, falling 54-49. Will Brevard have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
