The East Duplin Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the South Lenoir Blue Devils at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. East Duplin is looking to tack on another W to their six-game streak on the road.
East Duplin can now show off 14 landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Wednesday. They really took it to Heide Trask for the full four quarters, racking up a 53-20 win at home. Given East Duplin's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 75th, while Heide Trask is ranked 518th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
East Duplin's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sallie Hatcher, who scored 13 points along with three steals. Hatcher continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last four games she's played. Ava Noble was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with ten rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 56-28, which was the final score in South Lenoir's tilt against Southwest Onslow on Tuesday. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for South Lenoir in their matchups with Southwest Onslow: they've now lost six in a row.
East Duplin's win bumped their record up to 17-2. As for South Lenoir, they have been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-12 record this season.
Everything went East Duplin's way against South Lenoir in their previous matchup back in January as East Duplin made off with a 52-28 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for East Duplin since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
