Basketball Recap: Jewel Gully's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Seventy-First over Lumberton

If Seventy-First was riding high fresh off their 61-34 takedown of Douglas Byrd last Saturday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Seventy-First Falcons fell just short of the Lumberton Pirates by a score of 49-46 on Tuesday. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Pirates this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 62-50 back in January.

Jewel Gully

Steals

02/11/25 @ Lumberton	2
02/08/25 vs Douglas Byrd	3
02/07/25 @ Purnell Swett	4
02/05/25 @ South View	3
02/04/25 vs Jack Britt	4
01/31/25 vs Cape Fear	3

Several Falcons players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jewel Gully, who dropped a double-double with 17 points and ten boards. Gully has been hot, having also posted two or more steals the last six times she's played. Alani-Skye Wilkerson was another key player, dropping a double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds.

Even though they lost, Seventy-First smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in 45 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

Leading Lumberton to victory were Andrea Brown and Charley Whitley. Brown dropped a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards, while Whitley posted 20 points in addition to seven rebounds and five assists. Whitley continues to improve, besting her previous point total in each of the last four games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabryell Locklear, who scored ten points.

Seventy-First's defeat dropped their record down to 14-8. As for Lumberton, the victory was the seventh in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 15-8.

Seventy-First wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 60-40 win against Purnell Swett on the 13th. As for Lumberton, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 59-42 victory against Cape Fear on the 13th.