The J.H. Rose Rampants's road trip will continue as they head out to face the New Bern Bears at 7:30 p.m. on February 8th. J.H. Rose will be strutting in after a victory while New Bern will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Tuesday, J.H. Rose earned a 53-42 victory over D.H. Conley. Given J.H. Rose's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 219th, while D.H. Conley is ranked 444th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
J.H. Rose can attribute much of their success to Torry "TJ" Brown, who almost dropped a double-double on ten points and nine rebounds, and Malachi Green, who scored 20 points along with two steals. Green is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 12 games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jalen Coward-Cherry, who scored seven points along with two steals.
New Bern has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell 64-52 to Northside - Jacksonville on Tuesday.
Despite their loss, New Bern saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Brewer Simmons, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Jussan Wiggins, who scored eight points along with five rebounds and two steals.
J.H. Rose's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-9. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.3 points per game. As for New Bern, their loss dropped their record down to 14-8.
Fans should be in for an exciting game on Thursday as J.H. Rose and New Bern are among the highest scoring teams in the league right now. J.H. Rose hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 59.9 points per game. However, it's not like New Bern struggles in that department as they've been averaging 60 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
J.H. Rose and New Bern were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting last Monday, but J.H. Rose came up empty-handed after a 60-59 defeat. Can J.H. Rose avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
