Preview: Pine Forest Trojans vs. Terry Sanford Bulldogs
The Pine Forest Trojans will head out on the road to challenge the Terry Sanford Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Tuesday, Pine Forest didn't have too much trouble with the Eagles at home as they won 64-46. Given Pine Forest's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 286th, while the Eagles are ranked 621st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Pine Forest relied on the efforts of Dwayne Johnson, who scored 12 points along with two steals, and Nehemiah Mcdonald, who scored 20 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Mcdonald has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristan Lyons, who scored six points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Terry Sanford was just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 60-59 to the Hawks. Terry Sanford has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite the defeat, Terry Sanford had strong showings from Mason Walker, who scored 21 points along with six rebounds, and Johnathan Higgins-Simmons, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Walker has scored all season. Gaven Kraut was another key contributor, scoring four points along with eight rebounds and four steals.
Pine Forest's victory bumped their record up to 11-8. As for Terry Sanford, they dropped their record down to 3-14 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Pine Forest have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Terry Sanford struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Pine Forest opened the new year with a less-than-successful 56-44 loss to the Bulldogs. Can Pine Forest avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
