Basketball Recap: Heritage Falls Short of New Hanover in the Playoffs

Heritage and New Hanover squared off in some playoff action on Friday, but Heritage had to settle for second. They fell 62-52 to the New Hanover Wildcats. While losing is never fun, the Huskies can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 77th, while the Wildcats are ranked 11th).

Heritage's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ryder Strand, who dropped a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Heritage is 10-4 when Strand posts eight or more boards, but 6-8 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Cam Jones, who shot 50% from the field en route to 15 points and five rebounds.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead New Hanover to victory, but perhaps none more so than Rodmik Allen, who went 8-for-17 on his way to 21 points along with five assists and five boards. The game was Allen's sixth in a row with at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Zeus Batts, who shot 44% from the field to rack up 16 points and three steals.

Huskies

Previous 5 Games

02/28/25 @ New Hanover	52-62
02/25/25 @ Chapel Hill	53-46
02/18/25 @ Knightdale	53-46
02/17/25 vs Millbrook	77-68
02/14/25 vs Wakefield	79-62

Heritage moved to 16-12 with that defeat, which also ended their five-game winning streak. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.4 points over those games. As for New Hanover, the victory was the 23rd in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 27-2.

Heritage does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for New Hanover, they will host Richmond at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. New Hanover knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 29 matches -- so hopefully Richmond likes a good challenge.