The Lumberton Pirates entered their tilt with the Gray's Creek Bears with six consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with seven. Lumberton strolled past Gray's Creek with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 64-49. Given Lumberton's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while Gray's Creek is ranked 537th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lumberton was led to victory by Amare Jones and Jaiden Shephard. Jones almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine assists, while Shephard dropped a double-double on 19 points and 20 rebounds. It was the first time this season that Jones scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Dimetrious Jones, who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Gray's Creek's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Quion Andrews, who scored 20 points, and Deante Wike who scored six points along with six assists and three steals. Zeek Reed was another key contributor, almost dropping a double-double on nine points and nine rebounds.
Lumberton's victory was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-7. As for Gray's Creek, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-14 record this season.
Lumberton will challenge Douglas Byrd at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Lumberton is facing Douglas Byrd at the right time seeing as Douglas Byrd is stuck on a 20-game losing streak. As for Gray's Creek, they will head out on the road to square off against South View at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. South View will be up against Gray's Creek's rather soft defense (which has allowed 57.8 points per game), so fans could be in store for a big offensive showing.
