The Clover Garden School Grizzlies will take on the Southern Wake Academy Lions in a holiday battle at at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Clover Garden School will head into Tuesday's contest hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a two-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 31-point drubbing they dealt Ascend Leadership on Tuesday. Clover Garden School blew past Ascend Leadership 68-37. The Grizzlies pushed the score to 54-27 by the end of the third, a deficit the Aviators had little chance of recovering from.
| 12/17/24 vs Ascend Leadership | 4 |
| 12/13/24 @ Graham | 2 |
| 12/10/24 @ Falls Lake | 2 |
| 12/05/24 vs Eno River Academy | 8 |
| 11/22/24 vs Cornerstone Charter | 2 |
Brayden DeAlto was his usual excellent self, going 10 of 16 on his way to 24 points along with eight boards and four steals. He has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Charlie Castaneo, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 boards.
Clover Garden School smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive boards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Southern Wake Academy). They took their match on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 95-13 win over Triangle Math & Science. The Lions have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 23 points or more this season.
Clover Garden School better keep an eye on Ira Wilson. He was instrumental in Southern Wake Academy's win, dropping a triple-double on 14 points, 11 boards, and ten assists. William Knight was another key player, going 7 of 9 on his way to 15 points along with eight rebounds and four steals.
Southern Wake Academy pushed their record up to 9-1 with the victory, which was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.1 points per game. As for Clover Garden School, their win ended a six-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Clover Garden School has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 33.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Southern Wake Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Clover Garden School took a serious blow against Southern Wake Academy in their previous meeting back in January, falling 75-25. Will Clover Garden School have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
