Seventy-First has won six straight games at home, while Lumberton has won six straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Seventy-First Falcons will host the Lumberton Pirates at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Tuesday, Seventy-First got the win against Jack Britt by a conclusive 60-39. Given the Falcons' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 98th, while the Buccaneers are ranked 361st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Lumberton's strategy against South View on Tuesday. Lumberton was the clear victors by an 80-58 margin over South View. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Pirates have posted against the Tigers since January 3, 2023.
Seventy-First better focus on containing Christopher Hammonds and Jaiden Shephard as the pair were huge in Lumberton's win. Hammonds dropped a double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Shephard dropped a double-double with 19 points and 14 boards. Shephard has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 49 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Nate Lawson, who posted 15 points.
Lumberton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 11 consecutive matchups.
Lumberton is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 22-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.2 points over those games. As for Seventy-First, their victory bumped their record up to 19-3.
Seventy-First was able to grind out a solid win over Lumberton when the teams last played last Tuesday, winning 75-66. Does Seventy-First have another victory up their sleeve, or will Lumberton turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
