Preview: Topsail Pirates vs. New Hanover Wildcats
Topsail is 0-10 against New Hanover since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Topsail Pirates will look to defend their home court against the New Hanover Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Topsail has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while New Hanover will arrive with three straight wins.
Topsail pushed their score all the way to 62 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were the victim of a tough 82-62 defeat at the hands of Swansboro. Topsail was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 46-25.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Landon Kaiser, who scored 14 points. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Spencer Henry was another key contributor, scoring 10 points along with 3 steals.
New Hanover has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matches by 21 points or more this season. They blew past Cardinal Gibbons 62-41.
New Hanover's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Rodmik Allen led the charge by scoring 21 points. The matchup was Allen's third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Nolan Billings, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Topsail's defeat was their third straight at home, which bumped their record down to 1-6. As for New Hanover, their win bumped their record up to 3-0.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Topsail hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 56.4 points per game. It's a different story for New Hanover, though, as they've been averaging only 66.7 per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run up the score up higher Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Topsail was dealt a bruising 72-39 loss at the hands of New Hanover in their previous matchup back in February. Can Topsail avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
