After flying high against the Purnell Swett Rams last Wednesday, the Pine Forest Trojans came back down to earth. The game between Pine Forest and Westover wasn't particularly close, with Pine Forest falling 68-50. While losing is never fun, Pine Forest can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 286th, while Westover is ranked 45th).
Pine Forest's loss on Friday came despite strong showings from Malachi Cooke and Nehemiah Mcdonald. Cooke scored nine points along with five rebounds and two steals, while Mcdonald scored 14 points along with eight rebounds. Mcdonald has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last four times he's played. Jaderion Chance was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with two steals.
Westover was led to victory by Almare Josey and Ari Fulton. Josey scored 15 points along with two steals, while Fulton dropped a double-double on 21 points and 13 rebounds. Fulton hasn't dropped below 15 points for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Malachi Allen, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds.
Pine Forest's loss dropped their record down to 10-8. As for Westover, the victory (which was their ninth in a row) raised their record to 15-1.
Pine Forest will be playing in front of their home fans against Western Harnett at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Western Harnett is no doubt hoping to put an end to a nine-game streak of away losses. As for Westover, they will head out on the road to take on Harnett Central at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Harnett Central focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 14 on Friday.
