Even though the North Lincoln Knights have not done well against the South Iredell Vikings recently (they were 0-6 in their previous six matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. North Lincoln came out on top against South Iredell by a score of 78-71. Given North Lincoln's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 123rd, while South Iredell is ranked 365th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
North Lincoln found their leader in underclassman Ally Smith, who scored 33 points along with eight rebounds and six steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Smith has scored at least 25% of North Lincoln's points. Another player making a difference was Hailey Hagler, who scored 12 points along with seven assists.
Defeat or not, South Iredell got some senior leadership from Daria Fink who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 14 rebounds and Kayden Johnson who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds. Johnson scored a full 26.8% of South Iredell's points, the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Kinsley Duchinski was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
The victory makes it two in a row for North Lincoln and bumps their season record up to 6-1. As for South Iredell, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-6.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. North Lincoln won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Statesville at 6:00 p.m. on December 13th. Statesville comes in still looking for their first win of the season. South Iredell and Alexander Central will face off at 6:30 p.m. on December 15th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Alexander Central is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt want to keep things rolling.
