Hickory Ridge is 0-7 against the Wildcats since February of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Hickory Ridge Ragin' Bulls will head out on the road to take on the Lake Norman Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Hickory Ridge waltzed into their match on Friday with two straight wins but they left with three. They claimed a resounding 71-39 win over South Iredell at home. Given Hickory Ridge's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 39th, while the Vikings are ranked 272nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Hickory Ridge to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ma-kaela Gidney, who scored 20 points along with seven assists and five steals. Gidney is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 18 games she's played. Miranda Duley was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Lake Norman came tearing into Friday's matchup with nine straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past West Cabarrus 78-53.
Hickory Ridge has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-3 record this season. As for Lake Norman, their win was their 26th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 18-1.
Hickory Ridge came up short against the Wildcats in their previous meeting last Thursday, falling 59-53. Can Hickory Ridge avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
