Basketball Recap: St. Stephens Takes a Loss

St. Stephens was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They were six points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 69-63 heartbreaker at the hands of the Statesville Greyhounds. While losing is never fun, the Indians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 383rd, while the Greyhounds are ranked 154th).

Despite the loss, St. Stephens still got an impressive performance from Noah Vanbeurden, who posted 43 points and eight rebounds. That was a full 68.3% of St. Stephens' points, marking the third time in a row he's scored more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddox J Zablan, who had eight points along with five boards and five steals.

Leading Statesville to victory were Paul Cauthen and Kevin Bryant. Cauthen almost dropped a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists, while Bryant almost dropped a double-double with 12 points and nine boards. Bryant is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 47% in the last five games he's played. Tymieer Smith was another key player, putting up 11 points.

St. Stephens' defeat dropped their record down to 7-16. As for Statesville, they have been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. St. Stephens will face off against Foard at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Stephens is facing Foard at the right time seeing as Foard is stuck on a 16-game losing streak. As for Statesville, they will challenge Hickory at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Hickory's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last eight matches.