Basketball Recap: Chapman Takes a Loss

If Chapman was riding high fresh off their 52-21 takedown of High Point Academy last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Chapman Panthers fell 47-36 to the Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers on Saturday. Sadly, that's the third time they've come up short against the Panthers this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 45-42 last Friday.

Despite the loss, Chapman still got an impressive performance from Kara Twitty, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards. Twitty has become a key player for Chapman: the team is 4-1 when she posts at least eight boards, but 2-5 otherwise.

Blue Ridge's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Opal Maralit, who went 5 of 11 on her way to 16 points along with six boards and three steals. Maralit is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least three every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Talia Maxwell, who posted eight points in addition to eight rebounds and six steals.

Chapman has traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-6 record this season. As for Blue Ridge, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 9-3.

Chapman will challenge Walhalla at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Blue Ridge and Broome will round out the year against one another at at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Blue Ridge is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.4 points per game this season.