Basketball Game Preview: South Garner Titans vs. Willow Spring Storm

South Garner hasn't had much luck against Willow Spring recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The South Garner Titans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Willow Spring Storm at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Tuesday, South Garner got the win against Clayton by a conclusive 72-51. The Titans have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Willow Spring was able to grind out a solid victory over Garner on Tuesday, taking the game 65-55. Given the Storm's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 111th, while the Trojans are ranked 293rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Willow Spring's win came from a few key players South Garner will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Taylor Gray, who went 9 for 13 on her way to 19 points and six boards. She has been hot, having also posted two or more steals the last five times she's played. Another player making a difference was Raven Wooden, who went 6 of 7 en route to 18 points and five assists.

Willow Spring was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in December of 2023.

Willow Spring is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.0 points per game. As for South Garner, they pushed their record up to 12-6 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road.

South Garner strolled past Willow Spring in their previous matchup on January 3rd by a score of 56-42. Will South Garner repeat their success, or does Willow Spring have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.