Garner has played every game this season on their home court, but they'll have to hit the road on Thursday. They will take on the Middle Creek Mustangs at 5:30 p.m. Hopefully Garner focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 on Friday.
Garner struggled with assists on Friday (Orange had 900% more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Garner received a tough blow as they fell 55-41 to Orange.
Garner might have lost, but man, Olivia Jacobs was a machine: she scored 28 points along with 8 steals and 3 blocks. Jacobs scored a full 68.3% of Garner's points, the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sumayah Jones, who scored 6 points along with 5 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Middle Creek really took it to Fuquay - Varina for the full four quarters, racking up a 59-30 win on the road. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Middle Creek.
Ava Skladanowski and Joi Pergerson were among the main playmakers for Middle Creek as the former scored 14 points along with 7 steals and the latter scored 20 points along with 5 rebounds and 5 steals. Skladanowski continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last four games she's played. Another player making a difference was Zariyah McCord, who scored 6 points along with 3 steals.
The losses dropped Garner to 0-3 and Orange to 2-1.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Garner have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Middle Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.8 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
Garner came up short against Middle Creek when the teams last played back in December of 2022, falling 59-49. Can Garner avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
