Preview: Myers Park Mustangs vs. Olympic Trojans
The Myers Park Mustangs's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Olympic Trojans at 7:30 p.m. on February 9th. Myers Park knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven games -- so hopefully Olympic likes a good challenge.
A well-balanced attack led Myers Park over Ardrey Kell in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Myers Park enjoyed a cozy 75-60 victory over Ardrey Kell. Given Myers Park's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked second, while Ardrey Kell is ranked 72nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Myers Park's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sir Mohammed, who scored 22 points along with two steals and two blocks. Mohammed is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last four games he's played. Sadiq White Jr. was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Olympic struggled with offensive rebounds on Tuesday (Palisades had 14 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Olympic fell 52-43 to Palisades.
Despite the defeat, Olympic saw an underclassman step up: CANNON DEBERRY dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds. DEBERRY has been hot recently, having posted ten or more rebounds the last four times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of DEANGELO HALL, who scored eight points along with four steals.
Even though they lost, Olympic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. This was only their 12th loss (out of 16 games) when they hit their own glass that hard.
Myers Park pushed their record up to 19-2 with that win, which was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.1 points per game. As for Olympic, they have been struggling recently as they've lost nine of their last ten games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-17 record this season.
Friday's game is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Myers Park have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Olympic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.5 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Myers Park's way against Olympic when the teams last played back in January as Myers Park made off with a 58-35 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Myers Park since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
