Raleigh Charter is on a three-game streak of home wins, while the Firebirds are on a 22-game streak of away wins (dating back to last season): one of those streaks is about to end. The Raleigh Charter Phoenix will take on the Falls Lake Firebirds at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Raleigh Charter was handed a 36-point defeat in their previous outing, but they didn't let that bad energy affect their game against the Patriots on Friday. Raleigh Charter narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Patriots 39-37. The win was just what Raleigh Charter needed coming off of a 59-23 defeat in their prior matchup.
Meanwhile, Falls Lake put the finishing touches on their eighth blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 59-34 margin over East Wake Academy. Given Falls Lake's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 108th, while the Eagles are ranked 491st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Emerson Thompson continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, almost dropping a triple-double on 19 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists. Thompson is crushing the rebound category: she's posted at least ten every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Madison Oakley, who scored 12 points.
Raleigh Charter's win bumped their record up to 5-7. As for Falls Lake, their victory bumped their record up to 20-2.
Things could have been worse for Raleigh Charter, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 58-39 loss to the Firebirds when the teams last played back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Thompson, who dropped a double-double on 30 points and 14 rebounds. Now that Raleigh Charter knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
