The Sanderson Spartans on the road again on Friday and play against the Broughton Capitals at 6:00 p.m. on January 19th. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Sanderson suffered their biggest loss since November 21, 2023 on Friday. Their rough 61-36 defeat to Athens Drive might stick with them for a while. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Sanderson in their matchups with Athens Drive: they've now lost seven in a row.
Despite the defeat, Sanderson saw an underclassman step up: Amyah Lynn scored 19 points along with three steals. Summer Haith was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Sanderson struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Athens Drive racked up 20 assists.
Meanwhile, Broughton came up short against Leesville Road on Tuesday and fell 50-38. While losing is never fun, Broughton can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 301st, while Leesville Road is ranked 91st).
Despite the defeat, Broughton got a solid performance out of Kalajah Wright, who scored 20 points along with six steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Wright has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Kyra Gustus, who scored nine points along with five steals.
Sanderson bumped their record down to 3-12 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 25.3 points per game. Broughton's record now sits at 5-9.
Friday's match is shaping up to be a scrappy matchup: Sanderson have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 23.7 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Broughton, though, as they've been averaging only 31.5 rebounds per game. Given Sanderson's sizeable advantage in that area, Broughton will need to find a way to close that gap.
Sanderson suffered a grim 52-31 defeat to Broughton when the teams last played back in January of 2023. The contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Sanderson was down 31-9.
