Neuse Charter is 0-3 against Vance Charter since February of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Neuse Charter Cougars will finish 2023 at home by hosting the Vance Charter Knights at 3:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Wednesday, Neuse Charter made easy work of Princeton and carried off a 46-25 victory. The win made it back-to-back wins for Neuse Charter.
Neuse Charter's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Chloe Kozloff, who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds and seven steals. The game was Kozloff's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Layla Johnson, who dropped a double-double on ten rebounds and ten steals.
Meanwhile, Vance Charter had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 35 points), and they went ahead and made it three last Thursday. They blew past East Wake Academy 66-42. Given Vance Charter's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 156th, while East Wake Academy is ranked 448th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Vance Charter can attribute much of their success to Alyssa Bullock, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Katherine Suther, who scored 27 points. Those 27 points set a new season-high mark for her. Caelyn Bunn was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with nine rebounds.
Neuse Charter's win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 6-6. As for Vance Charter, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with that win, which was their third straight at home.
Wednesday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy match: Neuse Charter have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 25.3 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Vance Charter, though, as they've been averaging only 38.3 rebounds per game. Given Neuse Charter's sizeable advantage in that area, Vance Charter will need to find a way to close that gap.
Neuse Charter might still be hurting after the 70-48 loss they got from Vance Charter in their previous matchup on December 4th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bullock, who dropped a triple-double on 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. Now that Neuse Charter knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
