Basketball Recap: First Flight Takes a Loss

If First Flight was feeling good fresh off their 62-40 takedown of Pasquotank County last Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The First Flight Nighthawks fell 55-48 to the Currituck County Knights on Thursday. While the Nighthawks didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Knights 14-5 in the first quarter.

Despite the loss, First Flight saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Maddy Beatson went 10-for-22 to rack up 27 points and four steals. That was a full 56.3% of First Flight's points, marking the fifth time in a row Beatson has posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sara Basnight, who scored eight points and 17 rebounds.

Even though they lost, First Flight smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 40 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Currituck County's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Amani Dawson led the charge by going 7-for-14 on her way to 20 points along with eight steals and five boards. Dawson has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Arianna White, who went 7-for-15 en route to 19 points in addition to seven steals and five rebounds.

First Flight's defeat dropped their record down to 15-3. As for Currituck County, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 20-4 record this season.

First Flight wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 46-32 loss against Northeastern on the 15th. As for Currituck County, they will host Manteo at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Manteo has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with 16 straight defeats, while Currituck County will come in with 11 straight wins.