A feisty cat fight will be fought when the New Hanover Wildcats take on the Jacksonville Cardinals at 3:00 p.m. on Friday... New Hanover will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Last Friday, New Hanover didn't have too much trouble with South Brunswick as they won 53-39. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 38th, while the Cougars are ranked 219th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 12/13/24 @ South Brunswick | 14 |
| 02/02/24 @ South Brunswick | 15 |
| 02/06/24 @ North Brunswick | 14 |
| 12/28/23 vs Myers Park | 13 |
| 11/23/24 @ Richmond | 13 |
New Hanover relied on the efforts of Brianna Stanley, who went 6 of 12 en route to 18 points and six assists, and Zirhe Sellers, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 14 rebounds. That's the most boards Sellers has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of Justine McCague, who posted ten points.
New Hanover smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as South Brunswick only pulled down nine offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, Jacksonville was able to grind out a solid victory over New Bern on Friday, taking the game 55-42. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cardinals.
New Hanover better keep an eye on Kelize Velez-Galan. She was instrumental in Jacksonville's win, dropping a double-double on 30 points and ten rebounds. That makes it four consecutive games in which Velez-Galan has scored at least a third of Jacksonville's points. Another player making a difference was Izabella Hernandez, who had six points.
New Hanover has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.4 points per game. As for Jacksonville, their win bumped their record up to 5-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: New Hanover has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 31.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Jacksonville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
