Basketball Preview: St. Stephens Indians vs. North Lincoln Knights
Two dominant guards in Hayden Hillman and Kellen Karr are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. Stephens Indians will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against the North Lincoln Knights at 7:30 p.m. St. Stephens knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past eight games -- so hopefully the Knights like a good challenge.
St. Stephens pushed their score all the way to 61 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. Their rough 81-61 loss to Hickory might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, St. Stephens can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 239th, while the Red Tornadoes are ranked 16th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Javian White, who scored 15 points along with six assists and five rebounds. He is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last eight games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah VanBeurden, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, North Lincoln pushed their score all the way to 80 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 88-80 hit to the loss column at the hands of North Iredell. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Tuesday (58), North Lincoln still had to take the loss.
The losing side was boosted by Karr, who dropped a double-double on 26 points and ten rebounds. He hasn't dropped below two steals for six straight games. Another player making a difference was Ty Sanders, who scored 18 points along with five rebounds.
St. Stephens' defeat dropped their record down to 11-9. As for North Lincoln, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 15-5.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: St. Stephens have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27 rebounds per game. However, it's not like North Lincoln struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Stephens might still be hurting after the 85-62 defeat they got from the Knights in their previous meeting back in January. Will St. Stephens have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
