It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact the Granville Central Panthers can now relate to. They fell 60-47 to the Golden Tornadoes on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, Granville Central can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 217th, while Fairmont is ranked 78th).
Despite the defeat, Granville Central had strong showings from Jordan Alston, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds and four steals, and Trent Harrington, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds. Alston also posted two blocks for the first time this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Donovan Yancey, who scored eight points.
Fairmont's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Josiah Billings, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 15 rebounds. Billings hasn't dropped below two blocks for nine straight games. Another player making a difference was Landon Cummings, who scored 13 points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Granville Central dropped their record down to 17-9 with that defeat, which was their fourth straight on the road. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.0 points per game. As for Fairmont, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 20-5 record this season.
Granville Central does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Fairmont, they will head out on the road to challenge West Bladen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. West Bladen will roll in looking for their fourth straight win, something Fairmont surely won't give up without a fight.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
