Basketball Recap: Malia Graham Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Whiteville

East Columbus won the last time they faced Whiteville and things went their way on Tuesday too. The East Columbus Gators enjoyed a cozy 60-43 victory over the Whiteville Wolfpack. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Gators.

Malia Graham

Blocked Shots

01/07/25 vs Whiteville	2
01/03/25 vs South Columbus	3
12/20/24 vs East Bladen	5
12/13/24 @ Red Springs	5
12/09/24 vs Jones	2
12/06/24 @ South Brunswick	2

East Columbus' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Malia Graham, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 boards. Graham is also on a roll when it comes to blocks, as she's now posted two or more in the last six games she's played. Malayah Hines was another key player, going 8 of 15 on her way to 21 points along with eight rebounds and five assists.

East Columbus was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matchups.

East Columbus has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. As for Whiteville, their defeat was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 1-9.

East Columbus will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against Heide Trask at 6:00 p.m. on January 17th. As for Whiteville, they won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Scotland at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Scotland has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.