If the A.L. Brown Wonders were feeling good off their 52-23 takedown of the Carson Cougars on Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. A.L. Brown took a serious blow against Hickory Ridge on Wednesday, falling 76-34. A.L. Brown has not had much luck with Hickory Ridge recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.
Despite the loss, A.L. Brown still got an impressive performance from Sadie Faulkner, who scored nine points. Faulkner scored a full 26.5% of A.L. Brown's points, the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of R'mani Bradley, who scored six points.
Hickory Ridge was led to victory by Sheree Gidney and Amya Leathers. Gidney scored 16 points along with eight steals, while Leathers scored 22 points along with five steals. Those eight steals set a new season-high mark for her. Ma-kaela Gidney was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with five rebounds.
A.L. Brown has not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-3 record this season. As for Hickory Ridge, the victory was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-2.
A.L. Brown and Lake Norman will face off at 6:00 p.m. on January 5th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Lake Norman is on a four-game streak of home wins, A.L. Brown a four-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court. Hickory Ridge will take on Mooresville at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Mooresville will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps North Carolina Rankings (they are ranked 355th, while Hickory Ridge is ranked 40th).
