The Athens Drive Jaguars's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Wednesday after their fifth straight loss. They took a 61-55 hit to the loss column at the hands of Wakefield. While losing is never fun, Athens Drive can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 412th, while Wakefield is ranked 31st).
Despite the defeat, Athens Drive saw an underclassman step up: Chase Hardy scored 25 points along with six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Hardy has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryan Poggioli, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds.
Wakefield got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Taj Boone-Chambers out in front who scored 21 points along with five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Tristian Pretlow, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Athens Drive has not been sharp recently, as they've lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-9 record this season. As for Wakefield, their win bumped their record up to 12-2.
Athens Drive will head out on the road to face off against Sanderson at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Sanderson's favor as the squad sits on three straight wins at home while Athens Drive has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road. Wakefield will take on Rolesville at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Rolesville focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine last Friday.
