The North Buncombe Black Hawks pushed their score all the way to 60 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 68-60 hit to the loss column at the hands of Asheville. The result was an unpleasant reminder to North Buncombe of the 69-63 loss they experienced in the two teams' previous head-to-head fixture back in February of 2023.
Despite the defeat, North Buncombe saw an underclassman step up: Trent Clark went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 32 points and 4 assists. Clark is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Cole Edmonds, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Leading Asheville to victory were Aris Joyner and Aidan Shaw. Joyner scored 19 points along with nine rebounds, while Shaw scored 18 points along with six rebounds and two blocks. That's the first time this season that Shaw scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Kendrick Carter, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds.
North Buncombe has been struggling recently, as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-9 record this season. As for Asheville, their victory bumped their record up to 6-10.
North Buncombe will head out on the road to face off against A.C. Reynolds at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. As for Asheville, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Erwin at 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
