The Forestview Jaguars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 22 points or more this season. Everything went their way against Lincolnton on Friday as Forestview made off with a 76-52 victory. Given Forestview's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 228th, while Lincolnton is ranked 494th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Forestview found their leader in underclassman Tralyn Phillips, who scored 31 points along with six assists and six steals. Phillips is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Amani Neely was another key contributor, scoring 22 points along with three blocks.
Despite the defeat, Lincolnton saw an underclassman step up: Nyla Johnson scored 14 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. Those four steals set a new season-high mark for her. The team also got some help courtesy of Akira Connor, who scored 11 points along with nine rebounds.
Even though they lost, Lincolnton were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Forestview only pulled down ten offensive rebounds.
Forestview's win bumped their record up to 8-4. As for Lincolnton, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-8.
Forestview will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on North Gaston at 6:00 p.m. on January 9, 2024. North Gaston has now lost nine straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since November 29. Lincolnton and Newton-Conover will face off at 6:15 p.m. on January 5, 2024 without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Newton-Conover has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
