The Fuquay - Varina Bengals are taking a road trip to square off against the Willow Spring Storm at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Fuquay - Varina has struggled recently with five losses in a row, while Willow Spring will arrive with three straight wins.
Fuquay - Varina came up short against Garner on Tuesday, falling 70-46. While losing is never fun, the Bengals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 368th, while the Trojans are ranked tenth).
Despite their defeat, Fuquay - Varina saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Abdou Diop, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten boards, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Beckett Coon, who posted 16 points.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Willow Spring beat Cleveland 74-68 on Tuesday.
Fuquay - Varina better keep an eye on Brady Williams. He was instrumental in Willow Spring's win, going 6 of 9 on his way to 21 points and eight rebounds. Williams has been hot, having also posted two or more steals the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Grant Overman, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 13 boards.
Fuquay - Varina's loss dropped their record down to 3-12. As for Willow Spring, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Fuquay - Varina hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 55.2 points per game. However, it's not like Willow Spring struggles in that department as they've been averaging 66.6 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Fuquay - Varina might still be hurting after the 79-56 defeat they got from Willow Spring when the teams last played back in December of 2024. Can Fuquay - Varina avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
