Basketball Recap: Coastal Brigade Takes a Loss

Coastal Brigade lost against Living Water Christian back in December of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Monday. Coastal Brigade were dealt an 88-61 defeat at the hands of the Living Water Christian Warriors. While losing is never fun, Coastal Brigade can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 636th, while Living Water Christian is ranked 266th).

Despite the loss, Coastal Brigade saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Beau Brake went 11 for 22 en route to 26 points and three steals. That was a full 42.6% of Coastal Brigade's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Bledsoe, who went 6 of 11 on his way to 13 points.

Living Water Christian's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Peyton Pennington, who went 12 for 18 to rack up 29 points along with five assists and five steals. With that strong performance, Pennington is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. Elijah Mabry was another key player, going 6 of 8 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points in addition to six boards and three steals.

Coastal Brigade has traveled a rocky road recently having lost five of their last six games, which has put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season. As for Living Water Christian, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-9.

Looking ahead, Coastal Brigade will challenge New Bern Christian Academy at 6:00 p.m. on February 18th. New Bern Christian Academy will roll in looking for their fourth straight victory, something Coastal Brigade surely won't give up without a fight. As for Living Water Christian, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, an 88-34 win against New Life Christian Academy on the 11th.