On Monday, the Patton Panthers took a blow against the Lincolnton Wolves, falling 82-35. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 483rd, while the Wolves are ranked 126th).
Lincolnton found their leader in sophomore LJ Smith IV, who dropped a double-double on 29 points and ten rebounds. The game was Smith IV's 17th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Cam Smith, who went 8 of 10 en route to 17 points and eight boards.
Patton's defeat dropped their record down to 7-12. As for Lincolnton, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 14-4.
Patton will be playing in front of their home fans against East Rutherford at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in East Rutherford's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four matches. As for Lincolnton, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 71-43 victory against Newton-Conover on the 28th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
