After flying high against Rosewood last Tuesday, North Johnston came back down to earth. The North Johnston Panthers received a blow on Friday as they fell 63-49 to the Smithfield-Selma Spartans. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Panthers of the 62-55 loss they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture two weeks ago.
Despite the loss, North Johnston still got an impressive performance from Kaleb Pone, who earned 22 points plus six rebounds. That was a full 44.9% of North Johnston's points, marking the third time in a row he's scored more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Keno Jones, who earned 11 points.
Smithfield-Selma found their leader in freshman Johnavon Cox, who went 8 for 13 en route to 24 points plus seven rebounds and three steals. Those 24 points set a new season-high mark for Cox. Another player making a difference was Jimmy Raiford, who had 11 points.
North Johnston's defeat dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Smithfield-Selma, their win ended a nine-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-3.
North Johnston will venture away from home to face off against Rosewood at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. North Johnston is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.2 points per game this season. As for Smithfield-Selma, they and Harnett Central are set to duel on Monday. One thing working in Harnett Central's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four matchups.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
