Basketball Recap: Derek Crumpton's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Athens Drive over Sanderson

Athens Drive lost against Sanderson back in January and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Athens Drive Jaguars took a 52-48 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Sanderson Spartans. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 232nd, while the Spartans are ranked 23rd).

Athens Drive's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Derek Crumpton, who went 7 of 11 en route to 22 points and six rebounds. Crumpton's evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Marcus Green was another key player, putting up six points along with seven boards and six assists.

Sanderson's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Malakhi Murphy, who posted ten points. The dominant performance also gave Murphy a new career-high in assists (two). Another player making a difference was Nathan Fife, who had 15 points and six rebounds.

Athens Drive's loss dropped their record down to 7-9. As for Sanderson, they pushed their record up to 16-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.

Athens Drive will venture away from home to take on Leesville Road at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Leesville Road knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past seven matches -- so hopefully Athens Drive likes a good challenge. As for Sanderson, they will head out to face off against Enloe at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Sanderson is facing Enloe at the right time seeing as Enloe is stuck on a nine-game losing streak.