The Jackson Day Mariners will take on the Queen's Grant Stallions at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Jackson Day took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They took their contest with ease, bagging an 81-5 victory over Carolina International. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 63-2.
| 01/07/25 vs Carolina International | 25 |
| 12/10/24 vs Langtree Charter Academy | 18 |
| 11/08/24 vs NCSSM: Morganton | 14 |
| 11/12/24 vs Bradford Prep | 14 |
| 12/04/24 @ Cherryville | 12 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Jackson Day to victory, but perhaps none more so than Tralyn Phillips, who almost dropped a double-double on 25 points and nine steals. Those 25 points gave Phillips a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Laylah Toscano, who went 8 of 16 on her way to 16 points in addition to eight steals and seven boards.
Meanwhile, Queen's Grant entered their tilt with York Prep on Wednesday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They blew past the Patriots 73-12. The Stallions pushed the score to 67-7 by the end of the third, a deficit the Patriots had no chance of recovering from.
Jackson Day better focus on containing Za'Miya Bynum and Misa Garris as the pair were huge in Queen's Grant's win. Bynum dropped a double-double on 28 points and 13 steals, while Garris dropped a triple-double on 24 points, 12 assists, and ten steals. That makes it 12 consecutive games in which Bynum has scored at least a third of Queen's Grant's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Casey Smith, who went 6 of 11 on her way to 13 points along with five blocks and four steals.
Queen's Grant pushed their record up to 10-2 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.0 points per game. As for Jackson Day, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 10-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Jackson Day has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Queen's Grant struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Jackson Day lost to Queen's Grant on the road by a decisive 47-31 margin in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. Can Jackson Day avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
