Preview: Ravenscroft Ravens vs. Charlotte Christian Knights
Ravenscroft is 7-1 against Charlotte Christian since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Ravenscroft Ravens will be playing in front of their home fans against the Charlotte Christian Knights. Ravenscroft is coming into the contest hot, having won their last eight games.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up nine more assists than your opponent, a fact Ravenscroft proved on Friday. They took down Durham Academy 47-29. Given Ravenscroft's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 90th, while Durham Academy is ranked 295th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ravenscroft's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Ellie Cronin, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 16 rebounds. That makes it four consecutive games in which Cronin has scored at least a third of Ravenscroft's points. Another player making a difference was Zoe Adams, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Christian scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. They blew past Varsity Opponent 78-8 at home. The win was a breath of fresh air for Charlotte Christian as it put an end to their four-game losing streak.
Charlotte Christian had a senior duo take command as Kayla Lee scored 17 points along with seven steals and six assists and Dominique Kay scored 18 points along with four steals. It was the first time this season that Kay scored 15 or more points. Piper Fair was another key contributor, scoring six points along with nine rebounds and four steals.
Ravenscroft has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 18-8 record this season. As for Charlotte Christian, their win bumped their record up to 6-14.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Ravenscroft have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Charlotte Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for Ravenscroft against Charlotte Christian in their previous meeting back in January as the team secured a 63-35 victory. Will Ravenscroft repeat their success, or does Charlotte Christian have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
