The Mathews High School boys’ basketball team split games against Northern Neck opponents in recent action, losing Friday to the visiting Lancaster Red Devils, 71-50, and pulling out a 44-42 road squeaker over Rappahannock on Monday night.

Lancaster pulled ahead by three points at the half Friday and coming out of halftime, Mathews quickly closed to within one point of the lead. Then Lancaster started to pull away and MHS was unable to catch up against the tough man-to-man defense.

Jalen Matthews was the leading rebounder for the Blue Devils, with nine. Stuart Anderson Jr. had eight rebounds, and was the leading scorer for the Blue Devils with 16 points. He was followed by Jarius Monroe who had 13 points, Elijah Willis and Christian Williams who both had six, Ethan Armistead who had three and Matthews, Will Hutcheson and Jonny McCann who added two points apiece.

Against Rappahannock both teams started in a full-court press, playing solid defense. Through the first quarter and ...