The Swansboro Pirates's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their third straight loss. They took a hard 53-36 fall against East Duplin. While losing is never fun, Swansboro can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 318th, while East Duplin is ranked 69th).
Several Pirates players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Kendall Hackworth, who scored nine points along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Hackworth hasn't dropped below two blocks for four straight games. Addison King was another key contributor, scoring seven points.
East Duplin was led to victory by Kinsey Cave and JaMyah Pickett. Cave dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds, while Pickett scored 16 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Pickett has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Sallie Hatcher, who scored eight points.
Swansboro bumped their record down to 4-7 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. As for East Duplin, the win (which was their tenth in a row) raised their record to 12-1.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Swansboro will take on West Carteret at 6:15 p.m. on Friday. West Carteret and Swansboro are at an even 5-5 over their past ten head-to-heads. East Duplin won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against South Lenoir at 6:30 p.m. on January 16th. Hopefully South Lenoir focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 last Thursday.