Basketball Recap: New Bern Falls Short of Panther Creek in the Playoffs

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact New Bern can now relate to. They took a 72-55 bruising from the Panther Creek Catamounts on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 290th, while the Catamounts are ranked 122nd).

Jussan Wiggins

Steals

02/25/25 vs Panther Creek	4
02/17/25 @ Havelock	3
02/11/25 @ D.H. Conley	3
02/07/25 @ J.H. Rose	2
02/05/25 vs Jacksonville	3
+ 5 more games

When it comes to explaining why New Bern lost, don't look at Jussan Wiggins. Despite the final result, he went 9-for-19 to rack up 20 points and four steals. Wiggins is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in each of the last ten games he's played. Another player making a difference was Amari Reddick, who posted nine points along with five boards and three steals.

Panther Creek found their leader in freshman Andre Richardson, who earned 25 points and five assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Savion Mitchell, who dropped a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds.

New Bern has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 12-10 record this season. Panther Creek's win bumped their record up to 15-12.

New Bern does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Panther Creek, they have already played their next contest, a 65-50 defeat against Apex Friendship on the 28th.