The North Johnston Panthers waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with six straight wins but they left with seven. They walked away with a 73-65 victory over Eastern Wayne. Given North Johnston's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 146th, while Eastern Wayne is ranked 377th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
North Johnston got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Marcel Freeman out in front who scored 29 points along with seven rebounds. That makes it seven consecutive games in which Freeman has scored at least a third of North Johnston's points. Cory Barnes was another key contributor, going 7 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 27 points and 3 assists.
Several Warriors players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Charlie Thomas, who scored 19 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jquarius Carr, who scored 17 points.
North Johnston pushed their record up to 18-3 with that victory, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.4 points per game. As for Eastern Wayne, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last eight matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-12 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. North Johnston and Spring Creek will face off at 7:30 p.m. on February 14th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. North Johnston knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven matchups -- so hopefully Spring Creek likes a good challenge. As for Eastern Wayne, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Goldsboro at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Goldsboro has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 586 points over their last eight matches.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
