The East Duplin Panthers waltzed into their contest on Monday with nine straight wins but they left with ten. They took down Swansboro 53-36. Given East Duplin's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 69th, while Swansboro is ranked 318th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
East Duplin was led to victory by Kinsey Cave and JaMyah Pickett. Cave dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds, while Pickett scored 16 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Pickett has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Sallie Hatcher, who scored eight points.
Swansboro lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Kendall Hackworth, who scored nine points along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Hackworth hasn't dropped below two blocks for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Addison King, who scored seven points.
East Duplin pushed their record up to 12-1 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home. As for Swansboro, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-7.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. East Duplin won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against South Lenoir at 6:30 p.m. on January 16th. Hopefully South Lenoir focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 last Thursday. As for Swansboro, they will be playing at home against West Carteret at 6:15 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully West Carteret focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 30 last Friday.
