Basketball Recap: St. Pauls Comes Up Short

St. Pauls was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their seventh straight defeat dating back to last season. They lost to the Ashley Screaming Eagle at home by a 63-46 margin. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 448th, while the Screaming Eagle are ranked 111th).

Despite the loss, St. Pauls still got an impressive performance from Donel Thomas, who posted 11 points. The dominant performance gave Thomas a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tykeem Oxendine, who earned eight points.

Ashley's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Cole Lewis, who went 6 of 7 on his way to 12 points. Another player making a difference was Keyon Jones, who went 5 for 7 on his way to 11 points and eight rebounds.

St. Pauls' loss dropped their record down to 0-5. As for Ashley, the victory (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 5-2.

St. Pauls will take on Red Springs in a holiday battle at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at. As for Ashley, they will take on Laney at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Laney is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54.8 points per game this season.