The Croatan Cougars are headed away from home for the first time to face off against the Cape Hatteras Hurricanes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Croatan has three straight victories, Cape Hatteras has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Croatan is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing East Carteret: they outscored them in every quarter. Croatan put the hurt on East Carteret with a sharp 54-30 win on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Cougars have posted against the Mariners since February 13, 2020.
Neely McMannen and Layla Shearin were among the main playmakers for Croatan as the former almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine steals and the latter went 6 for 9 en route to 17 points plus seven rebounds and six steals. McMannen is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least three every time she's taken the court this season. Hannah Buchan was another key player, scoring eight points plus five assists and four steals.
Croatan smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, a win for Cape Hatteras just wasn't in the cards on Wednesday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were beaten by First Flight 51-15. The match marked the Hurricanes' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Croatan's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-0. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.3 points per game. As for Cape Hatteras, they now have a losing record at 2-3.
Croatan couldn't quite finish off Cape Hatteras when the teams last played back in December of 2023 and fell 31-28. Can Croatan avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
