Willow Spring is 5-0 against the Titans since December of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Willow Spring Storm will be playing at home against the South Garner Titans at 6:15 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Willow Spring came tearing into Tuesday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 36.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They breezed by Garner on the road to the tune of 62-25. Given Willow Spring's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 25th, while the Trojans are ranked 364th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Willow Spring's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Korin Gladden, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds and three blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Zariah Burnette, who scored seven points along with nine steals and six assists.
Meanwhile, South Garner scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They blew past Clayton, posting a 79-30 victory at home. The win made it back-to-back wins for South Garner.
South Garner relied on the efforts of Tamia Darden, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds and five assists, and Kimaya Barnes, who dropped a triple-double on 13 points, 11 assists, and 13 steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Barnes has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Taylor Moore, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Willow Spring has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 17-3 record this season. As for South Garner, their victory bumped their record up to 13-4.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Willow Spring hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.4 points per game. However, it's not like South Garner struggles in that department as they've been averaging 58.4 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Willow Spring beat the Titans 49-38 in their previous matchup back in January. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Darden, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 20 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Willow Spring still be able to contain Darden? There's only one way to find out.
