Preview: North Pitt Panthers vs. Greene Central Rams
North Pitt is 0-10 against Greene Central since December of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The North Pitt Panthers will look to defend their home court against the Greene Central Rams at 7:30 p.m. North Pitt has now lost seven straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since January 5.
North Pitt suffered their biggest defeat since December 26, 2023 on Wednesday. They ended up on the wrong side of a tough 82-59 walloping at the hands of J.H. Rose. North Pitt has struggled against J.H. Rose recently, as their contest on Wednesday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Loss or not, North Pitt got some senior leadership from Jamarcus Pippens and Keymauri Brooks. Pippens scored 13 points along with two steals, while Brooks. scored 16 points. Brooks hasn't dropped below 15points for six straight games. Another player making a difference was Zahmerrion Exum, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Greene Central pushed their score all the way to 63 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. Their tough 85-63 loss to Farmville Central might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, Greene Central can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 316th, while Farmville Central is ranked 21st).
Despite the defeat, Greene Central had strong showings from Denelly Coppedge, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds, and Deitrich Williams, who went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points and 0 assists. Williams' trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Michael Suggs Jr. was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
North Pitt has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost nine of their last ten matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-15 record this season. As for Greene Central, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 7-10.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: North Pitt have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 20 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Greene Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.5 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
North Pitt suffered a grim 77-54 defeat to Greene Central in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. The game was all but decided by halftime, at which point North Pitt was down 44-23.
