Basketball Recap: West Brunswick Comes Up Short

If West Brunswick was feeling good fresh off their 64-21 takedown of Heide Trask last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The West Brunswick Trojans were just a bucket shy of victory on Monday and fell 48-47 to the East Bladen Eagles. The Trojans were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Eagles earlier this season, when they won 53-46.

West Brunswick lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Saniya Stanley, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds. Stanley is crushing it when it comes to boards: she's pulled down at least ten every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Jahyra Mastry, who posted 12 points.

East Bladen's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Laila Smith led the charge by dropping a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. With that strong performance, Smith is now averaging an impressive 8.3 boards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of NeNe Ward, who went 5 of 9 on her way to 14 points in addition to five boards and three steals.

West Brunswick moved to 5-2 with that loss, which also ended their four-game winning streak. As for East Bladen, the victory (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 6-1.

West Brunswick didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 45-36 defeat against Laney on the 10th. As for East Bladen, they will take on Wallace-Rose Hill at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.