The Eastern Randolph Wildcats struggled with threes on Tuesday (the Randleman Tigers had six more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Eastern Randolph was the victim of a tough 54-34 loss at the hands of the Tigers. While losing is never fun, Eastern Randolph can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 467th, while the Tigers are ranked 203rd).
Eastern Randolph's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ziera Watson, who scored 18 points along with three steals. That was a full 52.9% of Eastern Randolph's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kenly Whitaker, who scored six points along with eight assists and six rebounds.
Randleman got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Audra Petty out in front who scored 22 points along with five rebounds. Petty has been hot recently, having posted 18 or more points the last four times she's played. Gracie Beane was another key contributor, scoring four points along with five assists and five steals.
This is the second loss in a row for Eastern Randolph and nudges their season record down to 3-15. As for Randleman, the win (which was their eighth in a row) raised their record to 13-6.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Eastern Randolph will take on the Warriors at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Randleman will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against the Cougars at 6:00 p.m. on February 2nd. Southwestern Randolph is on a eight-game streak of home wins, the Tigers a five-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court.
