North Gaston is 2-8 against Stuart W. Cramer since February of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Wildcats will be playing in front of their home fans against the Storm at 6:00 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Friday.
North Gaston was handed a heart-breaking two-point loss in their last matchup, but they sure didn't let that happen against Cherryville two weeks ago. The Wildcats put the hurt on the Ironmen with a sharp 62-40 victory. The score was all tied up 22-22 at the break, but the Wildcats were the (much) better team in the second half.
Jaleila Littlejohn went supernova, dropping a double-double with 33 points and 12 rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of North Gaston's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Isabella Symonds, who went 6-for-14 on her way to 12 points in addition to five boards and four steals.
Meanwhile, Stuart W. Cramer strolled into their game on Thursday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They claimed a resounding 72-22 win over Forestview. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 46-10.
North Gaston better keep an eye on Oshauna Holland. She was instrumental in Stuart W. Cramer's win, almost dropping a double-double with 35 points and nine assists. The contest was Holland's 35th in a row with at least 15 points. Another player making a difference was Lauren Humphrey, who dropped a double-double with 11 points and 17 rebounds.
North Gaston now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Stuart W. Cramer, their victory bumped their record up to 3-0.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: North Gaston has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 32.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Stuart W. Cramer struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
North Gaston was dealt a bruising 84-25 defeat at the hands of Stuart W. Cramer in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Holland, who shot 8-for-9 from deep and dropped a double-double with 40 points and ten steals. Now that the Wildcats know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
