The Ashley Screaming Eagle fought the good fight in their overtime match against the Topsail Pirates on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Pirates by a score of 54-51. Ashley has not had much luck with Topsail recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.
Bella Cook and MacKenzie Morton certainly did their best on Tuesday to try and avoid the loss. Cook dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Morton scored 25 points along with two steals. That was a full 49% of Ashley's points, marking the seventh time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Palyn Everhart, who scored two points along with six steals and five rebounds.
Topsail was led to victory by Rhianna Garmendiz and Emmy Clark. Garmendiz dropped a double-double on 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Clark scored 16 points along with five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Trimble, who scored five points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Ashley's defeat was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 9-7. As for Topsail, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-6.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Ashley won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Hoggard at 6:00 p.m. on January 24th. Hoggard knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three contests -- so hopefully Ashley likes a good challenge. As for Topsail, they will head out on the road to take on New Hanover at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
