Two dominant players in Matthew Dillard and Zymiere Chester are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Palisades Pumas will be playing at home against the Berry Cardinal at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Palisades' favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four matches.
You can't lose the contest if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Palisades' strategy against West Mecklenburg on Tuesday. Palisades strolled past West Mecklenburg with points to spare, taking the game 64-48. Given Palisades' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 136th, while West Mecklenburg is ranked 360th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Palisades' victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brian Ngo, who scored 11 points along with five assists. Another player making a difference was Dillard, who scored ten points along with four steals.
Berry suffered their biggest loss since December 5, 2023 on Tuesday. They were beaten by Myers Park 79-35. Berry has struggled against Myers Park recently, as their matchup on Tuesday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Palisades is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-7 record this season. As for Berry, their loss dropped their record down to 5-12.
Palisades was able to grind out a solid victory over Berry when the teams last played back in December of 2023, winning 68-59. Does Palisades have another victory up their sleeve, or will Berry turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
