Preview: Vance Charter Knights vs. Neuse Charter Cougars
Vance Charter has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Neuse Charter Cougars at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The pair are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.
Vance Charter has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 22 points or more this season. Everything went their way against East Wake Academy last Thursday as Vance Charter made off with a 66-42 win. Given Vance Charter's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 156th, while East Wake Academy is ranked 448th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Vance Charter can attribute much of their success to Alyssa Bullock, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Katherine Suther, who scored 27 points. The contest was Bullock's sixth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Caelyn Bunn, who scored nine points along with nine rebounds.
Neuse Charter has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 20 points or more this season. They blew past Princeton 46-25. The win made it back-to-back wins for Neuse Charter.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Neuse Charter to victory, but perhaps none more so than Chloe Kozloff, who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds and seven steals. The matchup was Kozloff's sixth in a row with at least ten points. Layla Johnson was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten rebounds and ten steals.
Vance Charter pushed their record up to 5-1 with that victory, which was their third straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.7 points per game. As for Neuse Charter, the win got them back to even at 6-6.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Vance Charter have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 38.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Neuse Charter struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 25.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Vance Charter took their victory against Neuse Charter in their previous meeting on December 4th by a conclusive 70-48. The rematch might be a little tougher for Vance Charter since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
