Basketball Game Preview: Newton-Conover Red Devils vs. Lincolnton Wolves

The Newton-Conover Red Devils will challenge the Lincolnton Wolves at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

Newton-Conover will bounce into Tuesday's contest after beating West Caldwell, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Newton-Conover came out on top against West Caldwell by a score of 67-59 on Friday.

Newton-Conover can attribute much of their success to Bryce Mitchell, who went 7 for 11 en route to 17 points and eight rebounds. Those 17 points gave Mitchell a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Braxton Eckard, who posted 16 points along with seven boards and three blocks.

Newton-Conover smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Lincolnton waltzed into their match on Monday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Panthers 82-35. The Wolves have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 22 points or more this season.

Newton-Conover is also on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.3 points per game. As for Lincolnton, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-4.

Newton-Conover was dealt a bruising 81-43 defeat at the hands of Lincolnton when the teams last played back in December of 2024. That match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Newton-Conover was down 43-21.