If the St. Pauls Bulldogs were riding high off their 59-21 takedown of the Red Springs Red Devils last Wednesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. St. Pauls was just a bucket shy of victory on Friday and fell 46-45 to Fairmont. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for St. Pauls in their matchups with Fairmont: they've now lost three in a row.
When it comes to explaining why St. Pauls lost, one person who can't be blamed is Jashontae Harris. Despite the final result, she scored 12 points along with three steals. Harris hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Zalaya Gardner, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.
Fairmont's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Taniya Simms led the charge by dropping a double-double on 22 points and 14 rebounds. Simms has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 12 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Niah Smith, who scored 18 points along with seven assists and three steals.
St. Pauls' loss dropped their record down to 8-4. As for Fairmont, their win was their 18th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. St. Pauls will challenge West Bladen at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. West Bladen 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 405th, while St. Pauls is ranked 189th). As for Fairmont, they will head out on the road to challenge Red Springs at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Red Springs is coming into the matchup on a six-game losing streak.
