Southern Wayne is on a five-game streak of home losses, West Johnston a seven-game streak of away losses dating back to last season, but someone's luck will change on Tuesday. After both having extra time off, both will shake off the cobwebs and square off against one another at 7:30 p.m. Southern Wayne is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.9 points per game this season.
With Southern Wayne's effective field goal percentage at 70% and Fike's at 36% last Friday, the final result was to be expected last Friday. Southern Wayne fell 70-59 to Fike. While losing is never fun, the Saints can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 502nd, while the Demons are ranked 140th).
| 01/17/25 vs Fike | 27 |
| 01/15/25 vs South Johnston | 15 |
| 01/03/25 @ Eastern Wayne | 14 |
| 01/07/25 vs Hunt | 13 |
| 12/23/24 vs James Kenan | 9 |
Despite the loss, Southern Wayne saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Demetrius Elliot went 10 of 12 en route to 27 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Elliot has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Dorien Toussian, who posted six points and seven boards.
Even though they lost, Southern Wayne smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, West Johnston came up short against Hunt two weeks ago and fell 60-47. The Wildcats were down 46-25 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Southern Wayne will need focus on slowing down Josh Dyson, one of several West Johnston players who made an impact when they last played. He had 15 points and seven rebounds. Caden Hartman was another key player, putting up eight points and nine boards.
Southern Wayne's defeat dropped their record down to 3-11. As for West Johnston, their loss dropped their record down to 4-10.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's game: Southern Wayne has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 61.6% of their three-pointers per game. It's a different story for West Johnston, though, as they've only made 28.8% of their threes this season. Given Southern Wayne's sizable advantage in that area, West Johnston will need to find a way to close that gap.
Southern Wayne might still be hurting after the 65-44 defeat they got from West Johnston in their previous meeting on January 9th. Will Southern Wayne have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
