Basketball Recap: Deondrae Hills' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Islands over Beach

Islands lost against Beach back in January and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Islands Sharks took a 60-50 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Beach Bulldogs. While losing is never fun, the Sharks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 423rd, while the Bulldogs are ranked 200th).

Several Sharks players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Deondrae Hills, who went 8 of 16 on his way to 19 points and eight steals. That's the most steals Hills has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Walls, who went 5 for 7 en route to 11 points and seven boards.

Jayden Newton was his usual excellent self, going 6 of 13 to rack up 17 points and three steals for Beach. Chandler Reid was another key player, going 6 for 14 on his way to 13 points and seven rebounds.

Islands has been struggling recently as they've lost 11 of their last 14 matchups, which has put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season. As for Beach, their win bumped their record up to 10-11.

Islands didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 57-51 defeat against Liberty County on the 1st. As for Beach, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 51-48 victory against Jenkins on the 1st.