Basketball Recap: Bessemer City Comes Up Short

Bessemer City fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against Shelby on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Shelby Golden Lions by a score of 61-59. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Golden Lions this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 68-62 back in January.

When it comes to explaining why Bessemer City lost, don't look at Tionna Pettus. Despite the final result, she shot 5-for-7 from downtown and dropped a double-double with 47 points and 16 rebounds. That was a full 79.7% of Bessemer City's points, marking the 18th time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Anna Gaut, who earned ten boards.

Shelby's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Dereon Kee led the charge by putting up 20 points. The game was Kee's fourth in a row with at least 19 points. Da'Mani French was another key player, scoring 16 points.

Bessemer City's defeat dropped their record down to 11-10. As for Shelby, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season.

Bessemer City has already played their next match, a 38-34 loss against Burns on the 7th. As for Shelby, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 51-12 win against East Gaston on the 7th.