Basketball Game Preview: Ardrey Kell Knights vs. Ballantyne Ridge Wolves

The Ardrey Kell Knights and the Ballantyne Ridge Wolves will compete for holiday cheer at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Ardrey Kell has five straight wins, Ballantyne Ridge has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Ardrey Kell is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They really took it to Porter Ridge for the full four quarters, racking up an 80-53 victory. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 58th, while the Pirates are ranked 382nd), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Ardrey Kell had a senior duo take command as Brett Freeman posted 21 points and five steals and Bryceton Thomas dropped a double-double on 16 points and 17 boards. The matchup was Freeman's seventh in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Matthew Craft, who had nine points.

Ardrey Kell was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Porter Ridge only posted eight assists.

Meanwhile, Ballantyne Ridge played a tough game on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were beaten by Myers Park 71-32. The contest marked the Wolves' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Ardrey Kell's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-1. As for Ballantyne Ridge, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.