The Pender Patriots waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with three straight wins but they left with four. They blew past Heide Trask 53-27. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Pender also won the last time the pair played back in February of 2023.
Pender got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Jamiah Johnson out in front who scored 22 points. That makes it five consecutive games in which Johnson has scored at least a third of Pender's points. Linde Cline was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
Pender's victory bumped their record up to 5-7. As for Heide Trask, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 2-14.
Pender won't have much time to rest: their next game is against East Columbus at 6:00 p.m. on January 24th. East Columbus presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Pender in North Carolina (East Columbus is ranked 102nd, while Pender is ranked 336th). As for Heide Trask, they will head out on the road to face off against West Columbus at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. West Columbus comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 25 points in their last nine games, a trend the squad is of course eager to reverse.
