Basketball Recap: East Columbus' Luck Takes a Turn for the Worse on Thursday

East Columbus lost against Lakewood back in February of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The East Columbus Gators took a 64-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Lakewood Leopards. While losing is never fun, the Gators can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 519th, while the Leopards are ranked 208th).

Despite the loss, East Columbus still got an impressive performance from Jaden Troy, who posted 29 points. Troy's evening made it eight games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Adrion Jenrette was another key player, putting up six points.

Lakewood's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Cameron Williams led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on 25 points and nine boards. Williams is crushing it when it comes to rebounds: he's pulled down at least eight every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Dashaun Carr, who had 18 points along with five assists and four steals.

With the defeat, East Columbus broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 5-5. As for Lakewood, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 4-1.

East Columbus wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 56-53 loss against Clinton on the 27th. As for Lakewood, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 60-47 victory against South Lenoir on the 27th.