The Porter Ridge Pirates were the 80-63 winner over the East Mecklenburg Eagles when they last played one another back in January of 2021, but their luck changed this time around. Porter Ridge was beaten by East Mecklenburg 88-47 on Saturday. Porter Ridge was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 37-14.
Porter Ridge's loss came despite strong showings from Samaj Long and Dennis Kurucu . Long scored 13 points, while Kurucu scored 13 points along with 5 rebounds.
East Mecklenburg got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Ahmari Hicks out in front who went 8 for 12 from beyond the arc en route to 33 points and 1 assists. That makes it four consecutive games in which Hicks has scored at least 25% of East Mecklenburg's points. Bryson Heath was another key contributor, scoring 21 points along with 5 assists and 3 steals.
Porter Ridge now has a losing record at 1-2. As for East Mecklenburg, their victory bumped their record up to 3-1.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Porter Ridge will face off against Lincoln Charter at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Averaging 67 so far this season, Lincoln Charter's high-powered offense has been in full-swing lately, so Porter Ridge better be ready for a challenge. East Mecklenburg's road trip will continue as they head out to face Sun Valley at 7:30 p.m. on December 1st. Sun Valley will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps North Carolina Rankings (they are ranked 244th, while East Mecklenburg is ranked 108th).
