The Brunswick Pirates waltzed into their match on Thursday with five straight wins but they left with six. They snuck past South Effingham with a 54-49 win. Given Brunswick's advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 107th, while South Effingham is ranked 274th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Brunswick found their leader in underclassman Lauryn Walker, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 22 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Walker scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jakai Alston, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds.
When it comes to explaining why South Effingham lost, one person who can't be blamed is Elena Hairston. Despite the final result, she dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Hayden Johanson, who scored nine points along with 16 rebounds and six blocks.
Brunswick is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-8 record this season. As for South Effingham, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 7-14.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Brunswick will take on Hilton Head Christian Academy at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Hopefully Hilton Head Christian Academy focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Friday. As for South Effingham, they won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Lakeside at 6:00 p.m. on January 26th.
