Basketball Recap: Chapel Hill Comes Up Short

Chapel Hill and Heritage squared off in some playoff action on Tuesday, but Chapel Hill had to settle for second. They fell 53-46 to the Heritage Huskies. The Tigers were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Huskies earlier this season, when they won 51-48.

Despite the loss, Chapel Hill still got an impressive performance from Jeremiah 'Juice' Mcilwaine, who shot 57% from the field on his way to 16 points and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Makhai Manning, who went 5-for-11 to rack up 12 points.

Heritage's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ryder Strand led the charge by shooting 50% from the field en route to 14 points in addition to eight boards and five assists. The dominant performance gave Strand a new career-high in assists. Xavier Williams also deserves some recognition as he scored his first points of the season.

This is the second loss in a row for Chapel Hill and nudges their season record down to 17-10. As for Heritage, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matches. That's provided a massive bump to their 16-11 record this season.

Chapel Hill does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Heritage, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 62-52 defeat against New Hanover on the 28th.