Preview: Jonesboro Cardinals vs. Morrow Mustangs
Jonesboro is 5-0 against the Mustangs since January of 2020, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Jonesboro Cardinals will head out on the road to square off against the Morrow Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
A well-balanced attack led Jonesboro over the Panthers in every quarter on their way to victory on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Jonesboro blew the Panthers out of the water with a 62-19 final score. Given Jonesboro's advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 81st, while the Panthers are ranked 506th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Montez Redding was his usual excellent self, scoring 28 points. Another player making a difference was Cortez Redding, who scored four points along with nine assists and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Morrow beat the Bulldogs 65-52 on Tuesday. The win was just what Morrow needed coming off of a 88-41 defeat in their prior matchup.
Morrow's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kentavious Bentley led the charge by scoring 12 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. It was the first time this season that Bentley grabbed two or more steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaiah Pena, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Jonesboro's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-9. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.6 points per game. As for Morrow, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-9 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's contest: Jonesboro have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 44.7% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Morrow, though, as they've only made 15.8% of their threes this season. Given Jonesboro's sizable advantage in that area, the Mustangs will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Jonesboro against the Mustangs when the teams last played back in December of 2023 as the team secured a 75-34 win. With Jonesboro ahead 40-16 at the half, the game was all but over already.
