The Pender Girls Basketball Team defeated Sandy Creek 65-31 in the D1-1 District Final at home Friday night.
Jeff’s Game Recap:
The Pendragons led the Cougars 23-5 after one before winning the 2nd quarter 11-7 to take a 34-12 lead into the locker room. Pender outscored Sandy Creek 19-5 in the 3rd quarter to extend their lead to 53-17 at the end of three. The Cougars won the 4th quarter 14-12. Avery Wegner had 19 points while Hadley Walsh and Maya Dolliver were also in double figures with 14 and 11, respectively. Madalyn Dolliver added 9 while Kyla Krusemark notched 7.
State Tournament Game Preview:
Pender (25-1) takes on Bancroft-Rosalie (17-6) in the opening round of State at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in action that will be aired on 107.9 the Bull. The Panthers upset Johnson-Brock 65-63 in four overtimes in the D1-4 District Final on the road Friday night. The Pendragons downed Bancroft-Rosalie twice during the regular season.
Jeff’s Game Take:
This is a really cool first round State Tournament matchup between these two squads. It’s never easy to beat a team three times in a season, but this Pender squad is really special. Both teams have so many talented guards. I look for the Pendragons to come out and play well on Thursday. I don’t know if playing a familiar opponent is a good thing or not, but Pender has been here before and knows what to expect. If the Pendragons keep doing what they’ve been doing then I look for them to be in the State Championship Game on Saturday against GACC perhaps. That would be one heck of a matchup that could very well take place, and would be an all out battle and war for sure just like it was when the two teams played in the regular season.
