The Pender Patriots will be playing at home against the Heide Trask Titans at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Pender has struggled recently with five losses in a row, while Heide Trask will arrive with five straight wins.
Pender pushed their score all the way to 57 last Saturday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 70-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of Wallace-Rose Hill.
The losing side was boosted by Cyrus Page, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Hansley, who scored 14 points.
Meanwhile, Heide Trask scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. They claimed a resounding 90-58 victory over East Columbus at home. Given Heide Trask's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 159th, while East Columbus is ranked 551st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Heide Trask's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sherrod Henderson, who dropped a double-double on 29 points and 18 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Henderson has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Myron Mckoy, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 assists.
Pender's defeat dropped their record down to 2-8. As for Heide Trask, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Pender have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 18.1 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Heide Trask, though, as they've been averaging only 31.1 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Pender couldn't quite finish off Heide Trask in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 and fell 2-0. Will Pender have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
