Pender lost against Lakewood back in December of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Monday. The Pender Patriots took a 44-33 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Lakewood Leopards. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 483rd, while the Leopards are ranked 98th).
When it comes to explaining why Pender lost, don't look at Maddison Francis. Despite the final result, she dropped a double-double on 21 points and 21 rebounds. That was a full 63.6% of Pender's points, marking the third time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. Solange Stewart was another key player, putting up nine points and eight boards.
Areona McKoy was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 24 points and ten steals for Lakewood. That makes it nine consecutive games in which McKoy has scored at least a third of Lakewood's points. The team also got some help courtesy of A'Miyah Smith, who put up six points.
Pender dropped their record down to 1-5 with the defeat, which was their third straight on the road. As for Lakewood, the win keeps them at an undefeated 9-0.
Pender will square off against Laney at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. As for Lakewood, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 71-28 victory against Union on the 14th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
