Preview: Charlotte Catholic Cougars vs. Hickory Ridge Ragin' Bulls
The Charlotte Catholic Cougars will face off against the Hickory Ridge Ragin' Bulls on Friday. Charlotte Catholic is looking to tack on another W to their 11-game streak on the road.
With a playoff game on the line, Charlotte Catholic rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They blew past the Spartans 67-18 at home. Charlotte Catholic has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 15 matches by 20 points or more this season.
Charlotte Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Blanca Thomas led the charge by scoring 17 points along with five rebounds and two blocks. Thomas has been hot recently, having posted 16 or more points the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivia Fava, who scored eight points along with eight steals and six assists.
Meanwhile, Hickory Ridge had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.5 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They took down West Cabarrus 55-39. Given Hickory Ridge's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 40th, while West Cabarrus is ranked 130th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Charlotte Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 23-4 record this season. As for Hickory Ridge, their victory bumped their record up to 23-5.
Everything came up roses for Charlotte Catholic against Hickory Ridge in their previous matchup back in December of 2022 as the team secured a 71-37 victory. Does Charlotte Catholic have another victory up their sleeve, or will Hickory Ridge turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
