The Belton Pirates's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Wednesday after their sixth straight loss. They fell 79-71 to Smithville. Despite running the score up even higher than they did last Friday (61), Belton still had to take the loss.
Several Pirates players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Peyton Dawn, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Dawn pulled down eight or more rebounds. Kordell Williams was another key contributor, scoring 22 points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Belton were working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
It was another big night for Toby Ford, who dropped a double-double on 34 points and 16 rebounds for Smithville. Ford also posted two+ blocks for the first time this season. Another player making a difference was Jake Shaffer, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and ten rebounds.
Belton's defeat dropped their record down to 1-7. As for Smithville, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 4-3.
Belton and Rockhurst will round out the year against one another at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday at. Rockhurst presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Belton in Missouri (Rockhurst is ranked 106th, while Belton is ranked 414th). As for Smithville, they will take on Joplin at 7:45 p.m. on December 29th. Joplin is hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
