The Richlands Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the White Oak Vikings at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Richlands was able to grind out a solid win over Swansboro, taking the game 44-32. The win was just what Richlands needed coming off of a 55-26 defeat in their prior contest.
Richlands relied on the efforts of Jordyn Fisher, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds and four steals, and Mia Wells, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 18 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Wells scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Lenayah Jackson, who scored five points along with eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, White Oak's seven-game losing streak came to an end on Friday. They came out on top against Croatan by a score of 45-34. The victory was just what White Oak needed coming off of a 67-29 loss in their prior matchup.
Zamarah Rawls continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds. She hasn't dropped below two steals for seven straight games. Denniyah Tanner was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with five steals.
Richlands is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season. As for White Oak, their win ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 2-9.
Wednesday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy match: Richlands have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 37 rebounds per game. It's a different story for White Oak, though, as they've been averaging only 25.8 rebounds per game. Given Richlands' sizeable advantage in that area, White Oak will need to find a way to close that gap.
Richlands lost to White Oak on the road by a decisive 47-28 margin in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. Can Richlands avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
