Basketball Game Preview: West Iredell Warriors vs. Hickory Red Tornadoes

West Iredell hasn't had much luck against Hickory recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The West Iredell Warriors will be playing in front of their home fans against the Hickory Red Tornadoes at 7:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

West Iredell came up into this matchup off a tough 43-point loss on Tuesday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of Statesville by a score of 78-76 on Thursday. The Warriors have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

West Iredell might have lost, but man, Jordan Patterson was a machine: he went 10 for 17 on his way to 32 points in addition to eight boards and three steals. Patterson's evening made it 14 games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of David Bunton, who almost dropped a double-double on ten points and nine rebounds.

Even though they lost, West Iredell smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in four consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Hickory had already won five in a row and they went ahead and made it six on Thursday. They strolled past the Raiders with points to spare, taking the game 73-59. Given the Red Tornadoes' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 57th, while the Raiders are ranked 505th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

West Iredell's defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-5. As for Hickory, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.

West Iredell took a serious blow against Hickory in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 97-54. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point West Iredell was down 62-22.