Preview: West Craven Eagles vs. Greene Central Rams
West Craven has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Greene Central Rams at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully West Craven focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 33 on Tuesday.
Last Tuesday, West Craven was beaten by Farmville Central 76-49. West Craven has not had much luck with Farmville Central recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.
West Craven's defeat came about despite a quality game from Ted Wactor, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Amari Boomer, who scored six points along with ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Greene Central pushed their score all the way to 60 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 68-60 to Washington. While losing is never fun, Greene Central can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 308th, while Washington is ranked 123rd).
Greene Central's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Denelly Coppedge, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Samuel Avent who scored 21 points along with two steals. Coppedge is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Deitrich Williams was another key contributor, scoring six points along with five rebounds and three steals.
West Craven's record is now 10-7. Greene Central's record is now 10-12.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: West Craven have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Greene Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.5 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
West Craven was able to grind out a solid win over Greene Central in their previous matchup last Wednesday, winning 50-43. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Coppedge, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will West Craven still be able to contain Coppedge? There's only one way to find out.
