The Dudley Panthers will be playing at home against the Ben L. Smith Golden Eagles at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Dudley came tearing into Tuesday's contest with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15 points) and they left with even more momentum. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Atkins 82-53 at home. Given Dudley's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 122nd, while the Camels are ranked 420th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Dudley got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Jerron Blackwell out in front who scored 19 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ishmael Mande, who scored 12 points along with four blocks.
Meanwhile, even though Rockingham County scored an imposing 59 points on Tuesday, Ben L. Smith still came out on top. Ben L. Smith was the clear victor by a 82-59 margin over the Cougars. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Ben L. Smith.
Dudley has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a massive bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Ben L. Smith, their win was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-3.
Dudley didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against the Golden Eagles when the teams last played last Wednesday, but they still walked away with a 53-48 victory. Will Dudley repeat their success, or do the Golden Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
