Two dominant guards in Ahmad Savage and Jayden Beyan are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Mallard Creek Mavericks and the Concord Spiders will round out the year against one another at at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Mallard Creek is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.6 points per game this season.
Last Saturday, Mallard Creek was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 47-43 to Catawba Ridge. The Mavericks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
| 12/21/24 vs Catawba Ridge | 12 |
| 11/29/24 vs Providence Day | 5 |
| 02/22/24 vs North Mecklenburg | 5 |
| 12/03/24 vs Independence | 4 |
| 11/16/24 vs Rocky River | 4 |
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Troy Griffin, who posted 12 points and six rebounds. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in points. Lajalin Overton was another key player, putting up ten points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Concord came tearing into Friday's matchup with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.4 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Falcons 79-51. The Spiders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 23 points or more this season.
Concord's win came from a few key players Mallard Creek will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kyzen Coleman, who went 7 of 13 on his way to 20 points along with five boards and five steals. His evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jabari Byrd, who went 7 of 8 on his way to 16 points and five rebounds.
Concord smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in ten consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Concord pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 33.3 points. As for Mallard Creek, they now have a losing record at 4-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Mallard Creek has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Concord struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Mallard Creek didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Concord in their previous meeting back in December of 2019, but they still walked away with a 43-37 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mallard Creek since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
