Basketball Game Preview: Topsail Pirates vs. Laney Buccaneers

Topsail is 0-10 against Laney since January of 2022 but things could change on Friday. The Pirates will head out to square off against the Buccaneers at 7:30 p.m. Topsail has given up an average of 59.3 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Topsail is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against West Brunswick on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. The Pirates had to suffer through a 74-36 loss at the hands of the Trojans. While losing is never fun, the Pirates can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 391st, while the Trojans are ranked 128th).

Meanwhile, Laney entered their tilt with Hoggard on Thursday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They came within six points of losing the streak, but they secured a 63-57 W against the Vikings. The Buccaneers pushed the score to 50-28 by the end of the third, a deficit the Vikings cut but never quite recovered from.

Laney found their leader in sophomore Emery Brown, who shot 78% from the field to rack up 18 points and four steals. Brown has been hot, having posted four or more steals the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Colin Lamb, who went 6-for-8 en route to 14 points and eight rebounds.

Laney was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. They are a perfect 9-0 when they've passed the ball that well.

Laney's win bumped their record up to 10-5. As for Topsail, their loss dropped their record down to 4-11.

Topsail suffered a grim 67-46 defeat to Laney when the teams last played back in February of 2025. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Pirates were down 39-18.