Basketball Game Preview: Croatan Cougars vs. Seventy-First Falcons

The Croatan Cougars will face off against the Seventy-First Falcons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Croatan is coming into the contest hot, having won their last 12 games.

Croatan is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They strolled past West Carteret with points to spare, taking the game 60-41. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while the Patriots are ranked 274th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Neely McMannen

Points

02/25/25 vs West Carteret	19
02/21/25 vs West Carteret	15
02/18/25 @ Richlands	24
02/13/25 @ West Carteret	28
02/11/25 vs Richlands	23

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Croatan to victory, but perhaps none more so than Neely McMannen, who on her way to 19 points. McMannen's evening made it five games in a row in which she has scored at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Leah Johnson, who en route to 13 points and three steals.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Seventy-First). They breezed past Southern Nash to the tune of 72-42 on Tuesday. The Falcons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten matches by 20 points or more this season.

Croatan's victory was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.6 points over those games. As for Seventy-First, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-9 record this season.