The Lamar Raiders lost against the East Rankin Academy Patriots on January 2nd, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. Lamar took a 46-39 hit to the loss column at the hands of East Rankin Academy. While losing is never fun, Lamar can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while East Rankin Academy is ranked 14th).
Lamar lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Sarah Dudley Reed, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Aryah Grace, who scored nine points along with 15 rebounds and four steals.
Lamar's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-12. As for East Rankin Academy, the victory was the tenth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 28-4.
Lamar and Park Place Christian Academy will face off at 6:00 p.m. on January 23rd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. East Rankin Academy won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Pillow Academy at 2:00 p.m. on January 20th. Pillow Academy will be looking to keep their seven-game home win streak alive.