vs
| 01/17/25 - Away | 51-75 L |
| 02/19/24 - Away | 64-76 L |
| 02/13/24 - Away | 61-75 L |
| 01/19/24 - Home | 70-65 W |
| 02/07/23 - Home | 50-36 W |
| + 3 more games |
St. Stephens and Statesville are an even 4-4 against one another since January of 2022, but not for long. The St. Stephens Indians will be playing at home against the Statesville Greyhounds at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. Stephens has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Statesville will arrive with three straight victories.
St. Stephens is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against East Lincoln on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. St. Stephens was beaten by East Lincoln 81-53. While losing is never fun, the Indians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 382nd, while the Mustangs are ranked 138th).
Despite the loss, St. Stephens got top-tier performance from Noah Vanbeurden, who went 9 for 19 en route to 21 points and five boards. Another player making a difference was Alan Wilson, who posted five points and six assists.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Statesville). They were the clear victor by a 95-69 margin over North Iredell on Friday.
St. Stephens better focus on containing Caleb Tillman and Manuel (MJ) Gladden as the pair were huge in Statesville's win. Tillman went 13 of 19 on his way to 31 points and eight rebounds, while Gladden went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc to rack up 30 points. Thanks to that strong game, Gladden now owns an excellent 46% shooting accuracy. The team also got some help courtesy of Paul Cauthen, who scored seven points along with eight assists and seven steals.
Statesville was working as a unit and finished the game with 26 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January of 2024.
St. Stephens' defeat dropped their record down to 7-15. As for Statesville, their win bumped their record up to 13-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: St. Stephens has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 21.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Statesville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
St. Stephens might still be hurting after the 75-51 loss they got from Statesville in their previous matchup back in January. Will St. Stephens have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
