Having just played yesterday, the Carolina International Comets will head out on the road to face off against the Queen's Grant Stallions at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. 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, Carolina International earned a 75-68 win over Valor Preparatory Academy. Given the Comets' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 107th, while the Owls are ranked 509th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
KJ Shouse Jr.
| 02/21/25 vs Valor Preparatory Academy | 35 |
| 02/14/25 vs Valor Preparatory Academy | 21 |
| 02/11/25 @ Queen's Grant | 25 |
| 02/07/25 @ Valor Preparatory Academy | 16 |
| 02/04/25 vs Sugar Creek Charter | 20 |
| + 3 more games |
KJ Shouse Jr. continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double with 35 points and ten boards. The match was his eighth in a row with at least 16 points. Another player making a difference was Landon Griffin, who went 8-for-11 to rack up 19 points.
Meanwhile, Queen's Grant had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 33.5 points) and they went ahead and made it nine on Friday. They breezed past the Patriots to the tune of 96-63. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Stallions had established a 20 point advantage.
Queen's Grant's win came from a few key players Carolina International will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ian Howard, who went 11-for-14 en route to 23 points. He is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 17 or more in each of the last five games he's played. Chase Smith was another key player, dropping a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Queen's Grant smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 18 offensive rebounds in four consecutive games.
Carolina International is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 14 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.9 points over those games. Queen's Grant pushed their record up to 22-7 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home.
Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday's contest: Carolina International has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.9% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Queen's Grant, though, as they've only made 29.9% of their three-pointers this season. Given Carolina International's sizable advantage in that area, Queen's Grant will need to find a way to close that gap.
Carolina International came up short against Queen's Grant in their previous matchup last Tuesday, falling 68-56. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Smith, who dropped a double-double with 22 points and 16 boards. Now that Carolina International knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
