The South Mecklenburg Sabres will take on the Pinecrest Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: South Mecklenburg has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Pinecrest will arrive with three straight victories.
Last Friday, South Mecklenburg came up short against Independence and fell 62-51. While losing is never fun, the Sabres can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 125th, while the Patriots are ranked 20th).
Despite their loss, South Mecklenburg saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Ben Houpt, who went 6 for 14 on his way to 18 points, was perhaps the best of all. Jim Gatehouse was another key player, putting up nine points and seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Pinecrest hadn't done well against Richmond recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Pinecrest snuck past Richmond with a 62-58 win. That's two games straight that the Patriots have won by exactly four points.
Pinecrest pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.7 points per game. As for South Mecklenburg, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 3-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
