Basketball Recap: Benjamin Sykes' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Nottoway over Colonial Heights

Nottoway lost against Colonial Heights back in December of 2023 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Monday. The Nottoway Cougars took a hard 67-50 fall against the Colonial Heights Colonials. The Cougars have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Several Cougars players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Benjamin Sykes, who posted eight points and five boards. Another player making a difference was Anton Carter Jr, who went 5 of 6 on his way to 10 points.

Cougars

Offensive Rebounds

12/12/23 @ Cumberland	28
12/04/23 vs Colonial Heights	25
01/19/24 vs Cumberland	24
12/15/23 @ Buckingham	21
12/16/24 vs Colonial Heights	20

Even though they lost, Nottoway smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in January.

Leading Colonial Heights to victory were Cartier Coleman and Cameron Hartsoe. Coleman almost dropped a double-double on 22 points and nine rebounds, while Hartsoe went 5 of 12 on his way to 20 points and four steals. The dominant performance gave Coleman a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bret Lipscomb, who went 6 of 10 on his way to 13 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Nottoway's loss dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Colonial Heights, their win ended a five-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-4.

Nottoway will take on Lunenburg Central in a holiday battle at at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lunenburg Central knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past four games -- so hopefully Nottoway likes a good challenge. As for Colonial Heights, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 62-59 victory against Prince George on the 17th.