The Richlands Wildcats struggled with offensive rebounds on Wednesday (the East Duplin Panthers had 12 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Richlands was beaten by East Duplin 55-26. While losing is never fun, Richlands can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 259th, while East Duplin is ranked 78th).
Several Wildcats players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Mia Wells, who scored eight points along with 12 rebounds and three steals. Wells is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as she's now pulled down eight or more in the last five games she's played. Tashi Allen was another key contributor, scoring three points along with 14 rebounds.
East Duplin found their leader in underclassman Kinsey Cave, who scored 16 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. Those 16 points set a new season-high mark for her. The team also got some help courtesy of Makya Kornegay, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and five steals.
Richlands' defeat dropped their record down to 7-5. As for East Duplin, the victory (which was their eighth in a row) raised their record to 10-1.
Richlands will be playing in front of their home fans against Swansboro at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Swansboro focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 29 back in December of 2023. East Duplin won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against James Kenan at 6:30 p.m. on January 11th. James Kenan is on a three-game streak of home wins, East Duplin a four-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court.
