Basketball Recap: Hoke County Comes Up Short

If Hoke County was feeling good fresh off their 57-14 takedown of Ascend Leadership on Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Hoke County Bucks were beaten by the Green Hope Falcons 71-42 on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Bucks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 401st, while the Falcons are ranked 132nd).

When it comes to explaining why Hoke County lost, don't look at Lailah Crowder. Despite the final result, she posted 14 points in addition to five assists and five steals. Crowder has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last five times she's played. Another player making a difference was Karmen Campbell, who put up eight points and three steals.

Abigail Brown was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 34 points and 18 boards for Green Hope. The dominant performance gave Brown a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bella Cook, who went 5 of 9 on her way to 10 points and four blocks.

Hoke County has traveled a rocky road recently having lost eight of their last nine contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-10 record this season. As for Green Hope, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-3.

Hoke County didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 53-38 victory against Western Harnett on the 28th. As for Green Hope, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next match, a 56-33 win against Lee County on the 28th.