Black Hawks
| 02/13/25 @ Erwin | 39 |
| 02/11/25 vs Asheville | 58 |
| 02/07/25 vs Enka | 65 |
| 02/04/25 vs West Henderson | 48 |
| 01/31/25 @ McDowell | 30 |
| + 19 more games |
The North Buncombe Black Hawks will square off against the Asheville Cougars at 8:00 p.m. on Monday. North Buncombe is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52.4 points per game this season.
Last Thursday, North Buncombe lost to Erwin on the road by a 53-39 margin. The Black Hawks haven't had much luck with the Warriors recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.
Despite the defeat, North Buncombe saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Aubrey Gilliland went 8-for-13 on her way to 19 points and five steals. Gilliland has been hot recently, having posted four or more steals the last four times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivia Stowe, who went 7-for-17 en route to 16 points and five boards.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Asheville). They enjoyed a cozy 84-65 victory over Enka on Thursday. The Cougars haven't had any issues with the Jets recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
North Buncombe better keep an eye on Hayziah Dillingham. She was instrumental in Asheville's win, shooting 5-for-9 from downtown and almost dropping a triple-double with 28 points, nine rebounds, and ten assists. They are 4-2 when Dillingham posts 15 or more points, but 8-10 otherwise. Zaryah Tucker was another key player, going 7-for-15 to rack up 21 points and five boards.
The victory got Asheville back to even at 12-12. As for North Buncombe, their loss dropped their record down to 16-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: North Buncombe has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 26.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Asheville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.6 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
North Buncombe didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Asheville when the teams last played on Tuesday, but they still walked away with a 58-53 win. Will North Buncombe repeat their success, or does Asheville have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
