Basketball Game Preview: East Columbus Gators vs. Whiteville Wolfpack

East Columbus is 1-9 against Whiteville since December of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The East Columbus Gators will host the Whiteville Wolfpack at 7:30 p.m. East Columbus is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.7 points per game this season.

East Columbus took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They managed a 52-46 victory over South Columbus. The win was all the more spectacular given the Gators' disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 519th, while the Stallions are ranked 229th).

Jaden Troy was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 30 points and 11 boards. His evening made it ten games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Adrion Jenrette was another key player, putting up 11 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Whiteville entered their tilt with West Columbus on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They took down the Vikings 63-45.

Whiteville has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.8 points per game. As for East Columbus, they pushed their record up to 6-6 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.

East Columbus came up short against Whiteville when the teams last played back in February of 2024, falling 51-44. Thankfully for East Columbus, Amari Best (who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.