The Queen's Grant Stallions will take on the Jackson Day Mariners at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Jackson Day is hoping to do what York Prep couldn't on Wednesday: put an end to Queen's Grant's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Queen's Grant took their contest with ease, bagging a 73-12 victory over York Prep. With the Stallions ahead 51-7 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Queen's Grant can attribute much of their success to Za'Miya Bynum, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 13 steals, and Misa Garris, who dropped a triple-double on 24 points, 12 assists, and ten steals. That makes it 12 consecutive games in which Bynum has scored at least a third of Queen's Grant's points. Another player making a difference was Casey Smith, who went 6 of 11 en route to 13 points along with five blocks and four steals.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Jackson Day, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. They claimed a resounding 81-5 win over Carolina International. Given the Mariners' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 220th, while the Comets are ranked 581st), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jackson Day's win came from a few key players Queen's Grant will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tralyn Phillips, who almost dropped a double-double on 25 points and nine steals. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Laylah Toscano, who went 8 of 16 on her way to 16 points in addition to eight steals and seven boards.
Queen's Grant pushed their record up to 10-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.0 points per game. As for Jackson Day, their win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 10-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Queen's Grant has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Jackson Day struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Queen's Grant strolled past Jackson Day in their previous meeting back in December of 2024 by a score of 47-31. Does Queen's Grant have another victory up their sleeve, or will Jackson Day turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
