Whiteville and the Patriots are an even 3-3 against one another since January of 2022, but not for long. The Whiteville Wolfpack will be playing in front of their home fans against the Pender Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The pair have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for Whiteville and four for the Patriots.
Whiteville struggled with offensive rebounds on Friday (the Vikings had eight more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Whiteville fell just short of the Vikings by a score of 52-49. Whiteville has not had much luck with the Vikings recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Justin Ward, who scored ten points along with six assists and five rebounds. He is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Another player making a difference was Amari Best, who scored six points along with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Pender pushed their score all the way to 56 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. Their rough 80-56 loss to East Bladen might stick with them for a while.
Whiteville's defeat dropped their record down to 5-12. As for Pender, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost ten of their last 11 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-13 record this season.
Whiteville came up short against the Patriots when the teams last played back in February of 2023, falling 56-45. Can Whiteville avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
