Preview: Clayton Comets vs. New Hanover Wildcats
The Clayton Comets and the New Hanover Wildcats will round out the year against one another at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday at. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Clayton comes in on three and New Hanover on six.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 11 more assists than your opponent, a fact Clayton proved on Tuesday. They walked away with a 54-44 win over South Garner.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Clayton to victory, but perhaps none more so than Andrew Grimes, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds. Grimes also posted two blocks for the first time this season. Another player making a difference was Justice Mitchell , who scored 15 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, even though Millbrook scored an imposing 61 points last Saturday, New Hanover still came out on top. New Hanover narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Millbrook 64-61. Given New Hanover's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 14th, while Millbrook is ranked 122nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
The match pitted two dominant players against one another in Rodmik Allen and Colt Langdon. Allen had a solid game and scored 12 points along with six assists. Meanwhile, Langdon was balling out in the loss, scoring 24 points.
Clayton's victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.6 points per game. As for New Hanover, their win bumped their record up to 6-0.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Clayton have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 28.4 rebounds per game. It's a different story for New Hanover, though, as they've been averaging only 27.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
