The Eastern Alamance Eagles's homestand continues as they prepare to take on the Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders at 9:30 a.m. on December 29th. Hopefully Eastern Alamance focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 25 last Monday.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up nine more assists than your opponent, a fact Eastern Alamance proved. They walked away with a 59-51 victory over Southeast Alamance.
Eastern Alamance had a senior duo take command as Makayla Thompson dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds and Nicole Hester scored 14 points along with five rebounds. The match was Thompson's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Makayla Scott, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 61 points the game before, Cardinal Gibbons were a bit more limited in their matchup on Thursday. They were beaten by Green Level 56-22.
Cardinal Gibbons' defeat came about despite a quality game from Kaylee Fitzsimmons, who scored five points.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Cardinal Gibbons struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Eastern Alamance now has a winning record of 4-3. As for Cardinal Gibbons, their loss dropped their record down to 4-6.
Friday's matchup is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Eastern Alamance have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 42.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Cardinal Gibbons struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 26.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Eastern Alamance was able to grind out a solid win over Cardinal Gibbons in their previous matchup back in December of 2016, winning 62-52. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Cardinal Gibbons' Madi Bonello, who scored 15 points along with three steals. Now that she won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Eastern Alamance to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.