Basketball Recap: Bessemer City Falls Despite Big Games from Kionna Pettus and Tionna Pettus

After flying high against East Gaston last Friday, Bessemer City came back down to earth. The Bessemer City Yellow Jackets fell to the Shelby Golden Lions 68-62. The Yellow Jackets were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Golden Lions apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in February of 2024.

Tionna Pettus and Kionna Pettus certainly did their best on Tuesday to avoid the loss. Tionna dropped a triple-double on 42 points, 15 rebounds, and ten steals, while Kionna dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 boards. Tionna's evening made it 14 games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points.

Even though they lost, Bessemer City smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in eight consecutive contests.

It was another big night for Dereon Kee, who went 8 of 18 on her way to 23 points along with eight boards and five assists for Shelby. That makes it three consecutive games in which Kee has scored at least a third of Shelby's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bre Mcentire, who went 7 of 15 on her way to 16 points and five steals.

Bessemer City dropped their record down to 8-7 with the loss, which was their third straight at home. As for Shelby, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season.

Bessemer City didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 56-54 defeat against Burns on the 14th. As for Shelby, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 47-35 victory against Highland Tech on the 9th.