Basketball Recap: East Juniata Falls Despite Big Games from Samuel Kopacki and Wrett Smith

East Juniata was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their seventh straight defeat. They fell 76-63 to the Susquenita Blackhawks. The Tigers were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Blackhawks apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in January of 2024.

Despite the defeat, East Juniata had strong showings from Wrett Smith, who almost dropped a double-double on 26 points and nine boards, and Samuel Kopacki, who posted 18 points and six rebounds. That was a full 41.3% of East Juniata's points, marking the third time in a row he's put up more than a third of the team's points.

Susquenita was led to victory by Ryan Schoppy and Dylan Trimmer. Schoppy dropped a double-double on 29 points and 15 boards, while Trimmer went 10 of 23 en route to 25 points along with six rebounds and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacob Vega, who earned eight points in addition to six assists and five boards.

East Juniata's loss dropped their record down to 3-10. As for Susquenita, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season.

East Juniata has already played their next game (against Line Mountain), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Susquenita wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 49-48 defeat against Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy on the 16th.