Preview: Steinbrenner Warriors vs. Sunlake Seahawks
Two dominant guards in Manny Torres and Christopher Murray are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Steinbrenner Warriors will head out on the road to face off against the Sunlake Seahawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Steinbrenner has now lost ten straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 14.
Steinbrenner suffered their biggest defeat since December 6, 2023 on Wednesday. They were the victim of a tough 68-46 defeat at the hands of Robinson. While losing is never fun, Steinbrenner can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 597th, while Robinson is ranked 245th).
Despite the loss, Steinbrenner got a solid performance out of Torres, who scored 22 points along with eight rebounds. That's the first time this season that Torres pulled down eight or more rebounds. Another player making a difference was Will Miller, who scored six points along with six rebounds.
Steinbrenner struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They are winless (0-3) when they just don't pass the ball.
Meanwhile, Sunlake can now show off seven landslide victories after their most recent match on Thursday. Everything went their way against Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate as Sunlake made off with a 53-28 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory Sunlake has posted since December 13, 2023.
It was another big night for Murray, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds. He hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for eight straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Manntavius Goodman, who scored six points along with six steals and five assists.
Steinbrenner's defeat was their sixth straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 1-17. As for Sunlake, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a massive bump to their 12-7 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's game: Steinbrenner have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 6.3 threes per game. It's a different story for Sunlake, though, as they've been averaging only 6.1 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Steinbrenner didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Sunlake when the teams last played back in December of 2021, but they still walked away with a 64-58 victory. Does Steinbrenner have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sunlake turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
