The Jones Trojans pushed their score all the way to 61 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell just short of North Duplin by a score of 64-61. Despite running the score up even higher than they did on Tuesday (58), Jones still had to take the loss.
Loss or not, Jones got some senior leadership from Keonte' Roberts who shot 4-for-5 from downtown and dropped a double-double on 24 points and 12 assists and Gabriel Butler who dropped a double-double on 24 points and ten rebounds. Butler scored a full 39.3% of Jones' points, the eighth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Gjamarion Burris, who scored five points along with 15 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Jones were working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
North Duplin was led to victory by Dujuan Armwood and Micah Lesesane. Armwood scored 23 points along with nine rebounds, while Lesesane dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Lesesane scored 15 or more points.
This is the second loss in a row for Jones and nudges their season record down to 5-3. As for North Duplin, their victory ended a six-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-3.
Jones will be home for the holidays to greet Washington Montessori at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Washington Montessori is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'. North Duplin will be staying on the road on Wednesday to face off against Wayne Preparatory Academy at 3:00 p.m. on December 20th. Wayne Preparatory Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three games -- so hopefully North Duplin likes a good challenge.
