The Jones Trojans's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their eighth straight defeat. They lost to East Carteret at home by a decisive 68-52 margin. While losing is never fun, Jones can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 528th, while the Mariners are ranked 105th).
Despite the loss, Jones saw an underclassman step up: Aariel Jemison almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine rebounds. That was a full 46.2% of Jones' points, marking the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Cassidy Rouse, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Jones struggled to work together and finished the game with only an assist. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as East Carteret racked up 22 assists.
Tanzania Locklear continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines for East Carteret, scoring 26 points along with eight rebounds and six assists. Kenliana Dixon was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with eight assists and six steals.
Jones dropped their record down to 3-15 with that defeat, which was their third straight at home. As for East Carteret, the win was the seventh in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 18-2.
Jones will be playing in front of their home fans against the Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. That game will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Mariah Jones and Jemison. As for East Carteret, they will head out on the road to take on the Hurricanes at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Pamlico County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 21 on Wednesday.
