The Ragsdale Tigers pushed their score all the way to 58 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 68-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of Southwest Guilford. While losing is never fun, Ragsdale can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 444th, while Southwest Guilford is ranked 88th).
Despite the defeat, Ragsdale had strong showings from Patrick Carter, who scored 16 points along with six assists and three steals, and Cam Wise, who scored nine points along with five assists and four steals. Another player making a difference was KJ Burke, who scored seven points along with ten rebounds.
Even though they lost, Ragsdale were working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. This was only their 12th loss (out of 14 games) when they've passed the ball that well.
Southwest Guilford's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Mikhai Twyman led the charge by scoring 22 points along with four steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Twyman has scored all season. Corbin Wilson was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six rebounds and five steals.
Southwest Guilford used a slightly different lineup for their bout with Ragsdale. Three players got more time on the court than they're used to: Alston Harrison (16), Cory Crump (seven), and Quinton Jones (17). The trio had averaged 8.58, 3.17, and 7.83 minutes respectively before Friday's match. Harrison made the most of the opportunity, scoring ten points along with two steals and two blocks. A few more games like that and he might be seeing even more time going forward.
Ragsdale's defeat was their sixth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 3-19. As for Southwest Guilford, the win was the fifth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 17-5.
Ragsdale will be playing in front of their home fans against Northwest Guilford at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Ragsdale focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 31 on Friday. As for Southwest Guilford, they will head out on the road to square off against Grimsley at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Southwest Guilford has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,450 points over their last 19 matches.
