Basketball Game Preview: North Lenoir Hawks vs. Eastern Wayne Warriors

The North Lenoir Hawks will take on the Eastern Wayne Warriors at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. North Lenoir has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with three straight losses, while Eastern Wayne will come in with five straight wins.

North Lenoir is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against SouthWest Edgecombe last Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. North Lenoir was dealt a 65-25 defeat at the hands of SouthWest Edgecombe. The Hawks were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 33-13.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Eastern Wayne). They blew past Southern Wayne 113-87 on Friday. While the Warriors didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-15), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

North Lenoir better keep an eye on Michael Bailey. He was instrumental in Eastern Wayne's win, putting up 43 points along with six boards and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Charlie Thomas, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Eastern Wayne pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 93.7 points per game. As for North Lenoir, they now have a losing record at 2-3.

North Lenoir beat Eastern Wayne 62-55 when the teams last played back in January of 2022. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Eastern Wayne's Albert Brown, who dropped a double-double on 30 points and 18 rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for North Lenoir to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.