The East Duplin Panthers's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their fifth straight loss. They had to suffer through a rough 69-34 loss at the hands of Swansboro. While losing is never fun, East Duplin can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 632nd, while Swansboro is ranked 49th).
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Calvin Harper, who scored nine points. Another player making a difference was Garrett Johnson, who scored four points along with four blocks.
Swansboro got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Jonah Holt out in front who scored 18 points along with five rebounds and three blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Tayvion Tangiora, who scored 16 points.
East Duplin's defeat was their fourth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 1-11. As for Swansboro, the win (which was their 13th in a row) raised their record to 14-1.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. East Duplin won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against South Lenoir at 8:00 p.m. on January 16th. South Lenoir is coming into the matchup on a four-game losing streak. As for Swansboro, they will look to defend their home court on Friday against West Carteret at 8:00 p.m.
