The Mauldin Mavericks will stay at home for another game and welcome the J.L. Mann Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on February 2nd. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard on Friday.
Last Friday, Mauldin was able to grind out a solid victory over the Yellow Jackets, taking the game 74-63. Mauldin pushed the score to 58-37 by the end of the third, a deficit the Yellow Jackets cut but never quite recovered from.
Mauldin's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alverez Smith led the charge by scoring 19 points along with six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Smith has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Braden Hershberger, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
J.L. Mann fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back wins it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They snuck past Woodmont with a 73-67 win on Friday. The win was all the more spectacular given J.L. Mann's disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 98th, while the Wildcats are ranked 31st).
Jeremy Cook was his usual excellent self, scoring 24 points along with seven assists and five rebounds. He is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last seven games he's played. Thomas Davidson was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Mauldin pushed their record up to 11-10 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.0 points per game. As for J.L. Mann, their victory ended a six-game drought at home and bumped them up to 8-14.
Mauldin was able to grind out a solid victory over the Patriots when the teams last played on January 16th, winning 73-60. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was J.L. Mann's Dontez Walker, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 15 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Mauldin still be able to contain Walker? There's only one way to find out.
