On Friday, the James F. Byrnes Rebels faced the Mauldin Mavericks in a battle between two of the state's top teams. James F. Byrnes rang in the new year with a 65-57 win over Mauldin. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Leading James F. Byrnes to victory were Chassidy Rookard and Te'ericka Dowling. Rookard scored 15 points along with eight assists and six rebounds, while Dowling went 7 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 30 points and 0 assists. That makes it three consecutive games in which Dowling has scored at least a third of James F. Byrnes' points. Another player making a difference was Timmerian Miller, who scored five points along with three steals.
Imani McIver and Zara Leamon certainly did their best on Friday to try and avoid the loss. McIver scored 20 points along with six rebounds, while Leamon scored 21 points along with six rebounds. That was a full 36.8% of Mauldin's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Delilah Soltys was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with five rebounds.
James F. Byrnes' victory bumped their record up to 10-6. As for Mauldin, their defeat ended a ten-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 7-1.
James F. Byrnes and Spartanburg will face off at 6:00 p.m. on January 10th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Spartanburg will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak. Mauldin will be staying on the road on Wednesday to face off against T.L. Hanna at 6:00 p.m. on January 10th. T.L. Hanna is out to stop a four-game streak of losses at home.
