The Pender Patriots lost against the East Columbus Gators back in February, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. Pender ended up on the wrong side of a rough 48-23 walloping at the hands of East Columbus. While losing is never fun, Pender can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 251st, while East Columbus is ranked eighth).
East Columbus got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Kaley Mitchell out in front who scored 14 points. Those 14 points set a new season-high mark for her. The team also got some help courtesy of Malia J. graham, who scored eight points along with 12 rebounds.
Pender bumped their record down to 1-3 with that loss, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 25.8 points per game. As for East Columbus, the victory for they keeps them at an undefeated 8-0.
Pender is on the road again on Tuesday and play against Pine Forest at 7:00 p.m. on December 19th. East Columbus will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on East Bladen at 6:00 p.m. on January 3, 2024.
