Two dominant guards in Aubrey Gilliland and Julie Janus are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The North Buncombe Black Hawks will head out on the road to challenge the A.C. Reynolds Rockets at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. North Buncombe will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps North Carolina Rankings (they are ranked 159th, while A.C. Reynolds is ranked ninth).
On Wednesday, North Buncombe came up short against Asheville and fell 45-38. North Buncombe has struggled against Asheville recently, as their game on Wednesday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the defeat, North Buncombe had strong showings from Gilliland, who scored six points along with four steals, and Edmonds Gracie, who scored 11 points along with eight rebounds. Gilliland is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played.
North Buncombe struggled to work together and finished the game with only three assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, A.C. Reynolds waltzed into their match on Tuesday with nine straight wins but they left with ten. Everything went their way against McDowell as A.C. Reynolds made off with a 62-41 win. A.C. Reynolds has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 21 points or more this season.
North Buncombe's defeat dropped their record down to 11-4. As for A.C. Reynolds, their victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-1.
North Buncombe was taken down by A.C. Reynolds 74-43 in their previous matchup on January 3rd. Can North Buncombe avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
