Preview: North Lincoln Knights vs. East Lincoln Mustangs
North Lincoln is 1-9 against East Lincoln since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The North Lincoln Knights will be playing at home against the East Lincoln Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. Hopefully North Lincoln focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Tuesday.
North Lincoln's game was all tied up 20-20 at the half, but sadly for them it didn't stay that way. They took a hard 55-39 fall against Foard. North Lincoln has been going strong on the season, but this is now their second defeat in a row.
Despite the defeat, North Lincoln had strong showings from Ashlyn Black, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and two steals, and Madi Black, who scored seven points along with eight rebounds and two blocks. That's the first time this season that Black posted two or more blocks. Another player making a difference was Addison Grice, who scored four points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, East Lincoln entered their tilt with North Iredell with eight consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with nine. East Lincoln enjoyed a cozy 57-41 win over North Iredell on Friday.
Emma Montanari and Abbie Hege were among the main playmakers for East Lincoln as the former scored 16 points along with eight rebounds and three blocks and the latter dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds. Montanari is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Taniyah Thomas, who scored 11 points along with four steals.
North Lincoln's defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-5. As for East Lincoln, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-1.
Tuesday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: North Lincoln have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.1% of their threes per game. However, it's not like East Lincoln struggles in that department as they've nailed 44.7% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
North Lincoln took a serious blow against East Lincoln in their previous matchup back in February of 2023, falling 63-13. Can North Lincoln avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
