Basketball Game Preview: Cary Imps vs. Laney Buccaneers

The Cary Imps and the Laney Buccaneers will round out the year against one another at at 12:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.

Cary will head into Saturday's match hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 20) and on Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. It was close, but they capped 2024 with a 64-61 win over Hoggard. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Imps' disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 357th, while the Vikings are ranked 48th).

Brandon Nixon was a one-man wrecking crew for Cary as he almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine boards. The dominant performance gave Nixon a new career-high in rebounds. Jonathan Peery was another key player, going 6 for 12 on his way to 14 points and six rebounds.

Meanwhile, Laney had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Saturday. They had just enough and edged the Sabres out 70-68. The Buccaneers' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.

Cary better keep an eye on Colin Lamb. He was instrumental in Laney's win, going 14 of 26 on his way to 29 points and seven rebounds. Lamb has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Whit Lamb was another key player, going 5 of 9 on his way to 10 points and five assists.

Cary is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.5 points per game. As for Laney, their win bumped their record up to 7-2.

Cary took their victory against Laney in their previous matchup back in December of 2015 by a conclusive 68-42. Will Cary repeat their success, or does Laney have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.