Basketball Game Preview: Crest Chargers vs. North Gaston Wildcats

Crest has gone 9-1 against North Gaston recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Crest Chargers will head out on the road to challenge the North Gaston Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. One thing working in Crest's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 11 contests.

Crest will head out to face North Gaston after giving up their first home loss of the season on Wednesday. Crest fell just short of Kings Mountain by a score of 60-57. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Chargers have suffered since January 30, 2024.

Despite the defeat, Crest got top-tier performance from Cal Pass Jr., who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 boards. The dominant performance gave Pass Jr. a new career-high in rebounds. Lyrik Pettis was another key player, putting up nine points in addition to eight boards and five assists.

Even though they lost, Crest smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in five consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, North Gaston was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They came up short against South Point, falling 70-48. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 448th, while the Red Raiders are ranked 212th).

Crest's defeat ended a ten-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 12-2. As for North Gaston, their loss dropped their record down to 6-11.

Everything came up roses for Crest against North Gaston when the teams last played back in December of 2024, as the team secured a 69-24 win. In that game, Crest amassed a halftime lead of 34-13, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.