Basketball Preview: North Cross Raiders vs. Carlisle Chiefs
North Cross is 0-7 against the Chiefs since December of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The North Cross Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Carlisle Chiefs at 4:30 p.m. Hopefully North Cross focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Tuesday.
Last Tuesday, North Cross had to suffer through a rough 68-36 loss at the hands of the Cardinals. While losing is never fun, North Cross can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 332nd, while the Cardinals are ranked 64th).
The losing side was boosted by Cate Overton, who scored nine points along with six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Dajah Garrison, who scored six points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Carlisle had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They blew past New Covenant, posting a 72-39 victory at home.
North Cross has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-11 record this season. As for Carlisle, they pushed their record up to 17-9 with that win, which was their third straight at home.
North Cross came up short against the Chiefs in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, falling 53-44. Can North Cross avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
