If the Nantahala Hawks were feeling good off their 51-30 takedown of Varsity Opponent last Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Nantahala had to suffer through a rough 78-28 loss at the hands of Andrews. While losing is never fun, Nantahala can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 586th, while Andrews is ranked 219th).
Nantahala lost on Tuesday despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Cole McCoy, who scored nine points along with eight rebounds and three steals. McCoy is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last five games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Landon Neal, who scored six points along with five rebounds.
Jailen Powell continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Andrews, scoring 16 points. That's the first time this season that Powell scored 15 or more points. Cameron Rattler was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Nantahala has not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-4 record this season. As for Andrews, the victory for they keeps them at an undefeated 5-0.
Nantahala will head out on the road to face off against Blue Ridge Early College at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Blue Ridge Early College is coming into the game on a four-game losing streak. Andrews will be home for the holidays to greet Cherokee at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Cherokee's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season.
