Winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 13 to 4 on the offensive boards, a fact the Ashley Screaming Eagle proved on Wednesday. They blew past Croatan 32-11. Given Ashley's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 133rd, while Croatan is ranked 342nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Among those leading the charge was Anna Benfield, who scored eight points along with five steals. Those five steals set a new season-high mark for her. MacKenzie Morton was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Despite the defeat, Croatan saw an underclassman step up: Sunny Johnson scored four points along with five rebounds. Johnson is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Croatan struggled to work together and finished the game with only two assists. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Ashley's win bumped their record up to 8-4. As for Croatan, they now have a losing record at 5-6.
Ashley will look to defend their home court on Friday against New Hanover at 6:30 p.m. Hopefully New Hanover focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 19 last Saturday. As for Croatan, they will head out on the road to face off against Dixon at 6:15 p.m. on January 12th. Dixon is coming into the game on a four-game losing streak.
