Preview: North Lincoln Knights vs. Hickory Red Tornadoes
North Lincoln is 0-9 against Hickory since December of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The North Lincoln Knights will square off against the Hickory Red Tornadoes. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
North Lincoln had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They blew past Franklin 78-35 at home on Tuesday. The win was just what North Lincoln needed coming off of a 89-68 defeat in their prior contest.
North Lincoln's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Carson Engstrand, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Ty Sanders was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Hickory put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. They put the hurt on West Charlotte with a sharp 89-64 victory. 89 seems to be a good number for Hickory as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Hickory can attribute much of their success to John Holbrook, who scored 18 points. Holbrook hasn't dropped below 15 points for five straight games. Another player making a difference was Jamien Little, who scored 12 points.
North Lincoln pushed their record up to 22-6 with that win, which was their eighth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 84.4 points per game. As for Hickory, their win bumped their record up to 28-0.
North Lincoln might still be hurting after the 89-68 loss they got from Hickory in their previous meeting on Friday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Little, who scored 28 points. Now that North Lincoln knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
