Basketball Game Preview: Gray's Creek Bears vs. Cape Fear Colts

Gray's Creek is 1-9 against Cape Fear since February of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Gray's Creek Bears will look to defend their home court against the Cape Fear Colts at 6:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Last Tuesday, Gray's Creek was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 58-57 to Jack Britt. The Bears have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Tatyana Smith

Steals

02/11/25 @ Jack Britt	4
02/07/25 vs South View	2
02/04/25 vs Lumberton	3
02/01/25 vs Purnell Swett	1
01/28/25 vs Seventy-First	4
+ 8 more games

Despite their defeat, Gray's Creek saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Tatyana Smith, who dropped a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards, was perhaps the best of all. With that strong performance, Smith is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Chloe Hall, who posted 12 points and three steals.

Even though they lost, Gray's Creek smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in December of 2023.

Meanwhile, Cape Fear ended up a good deal behind Lumberton on Thursday and lost 59-42. While losing is never fun, the Colts can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 250th, while the Pirates are ranked 124th).

Cape Fear has also traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches, which has put a noticeable dent in their 9-11 record this season. As for Gray's Creek, their loss dropped their record down to 11-10.

Gray's Creek didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Cape Fear when the teams last played last Wednesday, but they still walked away with a 55-51 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Cape Fear's Shanel Sutton, who dropped a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Gray's Creek still be able to contain Sutton? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.