The Gates County Red Barons will head out on the road to challenge the East Columbus Gators at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Gates County sitting on ten straight wins and East Columbus on 15.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Gates County had no problem doing just that on Friday. They walked away with a 48-37 win over the Spartans. Given Gates County's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 111th, while Union is ranked 244th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for London Barber, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 11 rebounds. Kyndall Banks was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, East Columbus beat North Duplin 63-51 on Friday.
Malia J. Graham continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 33 points and 13 rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of East Columbus' points. Another player making a difference was Kaley Mitchell, who scored 14 points along with four steals.
Gates County pushed their record up to 22-4 with that victory, which was their seventh straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.0 points per game. As for East Columbus, their win bumped their record up to 23-1.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Gates County have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 39.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like East Columbus struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
