Preview: St. Stephens Indians vs. Foard Tigers
St. Stephens has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the Foard Tigers at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in St. Stephens' favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four games.
Even though Statesville scored an imposing 65 points on Friday, St. Stephens still came out on top. St. Stephens snuck past Statesville with a 70-65 win.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Stephens to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jonah Long, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Long has scored all season. Hayden Hillman was another key contributor, scoring 19 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Foard's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight loss. They were dealt a 77-40 defeat at the hands of Hickory. While losing is never fun, Foard can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 469th, while Hickory is ranked 17th).
The win got St. Stephens back to even at 8-8. As for Foard, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost eight of their last nine contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-12 record this season.
St. Stephens came out on top in a nail-biter against Foard when the teams last played back in February of 2023, sneaking past 52-49. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Foard's Preston Neel, who scored 25 points. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for St. Stephens to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
