Hoke County is 0-10 against the Raiders since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Hoke County Bucks will head out on the road to square off against the Richmond Raiders at 7:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Hoke County comes in on four and the Raiders on eight.
Even though Lee County scored an imposing 57 points on Tuesday, Hoke County still came out on top. Hoke County took their game against the Yellow Jackets 68-57. Given Hoke County's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 184th, while the Yellow Jackets are ranked 409th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Hoke County's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Salah Sutton, who scored 21 points along with three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Brandon Graham, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Meanwhile, even though Pinecrest scored an imposing 68 points on Tuesday, Richmond still came out on top. Richmond took down the Patriots 83-68.
It was another big night for Paul McNeil Jr., who scored 34 points along with five rebounds. JV Drake was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with five steals.
Hoke County has been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. As for Richmond, their win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-5.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Hoke County have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Richmond struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Hoke County took a serious blow against the Raiders in their previous meeting back in January, falling 88-48. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of McNeil Jr., who shot 6-for-12 from downtown and almost dropped a double-double on 47 points and nine rebounds. Now that Hoke County knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.