Basketball Game Preview: St. Stephens Indians vs. Statesville Greyhounds

The St. Stephens Indians will head out to take on the Statesville Greyhounds at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. Stephens has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Statesville will arrive with three straight wins.

St. Stephens is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against East Lincoln on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. St. Stephens came up short against East Lincoln, falling 93-70. The Indians were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 51-27.

St. Stephens' loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Noah Vanbeurden, who went 7 for 15 en route to 23 points, and Javian White, who went 9 of 18 on his way to 23 points. The match was White's 18th in a row with at least ten points. Jachavis Sherrill was another key player, dropping a double-double on 12 points and 13 boards.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Statesville). They simply couldn't be stopped on Wednesday as they easily beat North Iredell 88-47. Given the Greyhounds' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 183rd, while the Raiders are ranked 490th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Statesville is also on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.8 points per game. As for St. Stephens, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-10.

St. Stephens came up short against Statesville in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 76-64. Can St. Stephens avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.