The Gates County Red Barons will head out on the road to take on the Washington County Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Gates County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 19 on Friday.
In what's become a running theme this season, Gates County gave their fans yet another huge win on Friday. They blew past Bertie 54-30. Given Gates County's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 120th, while Bertie is ranked 345th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Gates County found their leader in underclassman Zariah Rogers, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds and four steals. It was the first time this season that Rogers scored 15 or more points. Kyndall Banks was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with nine steals and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, even though North Edgecombe scored an imposing 56 points on Saturday, Washington County still came out on top. Washington County came out on top in a nail-biter against North Edgecombe and snuck past 59-56. The win made it back-to-back wins for Washington County.
Aaliyah Carter and Ke'Myia Young were among the main playmakers for Washington County as the former scored 20 points along with six rebounds and four steals and the latter dropped a double-double on 24 points and 11 rebounds. Carter is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Ke'Nyia Young, who scored six points along with two steals.
The win was the third in a row for Gates County, bringing their record for this year to 15-4. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.0 points per game. As for Washington County, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-6 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Gates County have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 39.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Washington County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Gates County strolled past Washington County in their previous meeting back in January by a score of 66-48. The rematch might be a little tougher for Gates County since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
