Basketball Game Preview: McKeel Academy Wildcats vs. Fort Meade Miners

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Previous 6 Games

01/03/25 - Away	50-42 W
01/12/21 - Away	84-51 W
01/14/20 - Home	66-58 W
12/27/19 - Neutral	84-58 W
01/30/18 - Away	57-23 W
12/01/17 - Home	80-14 W

McKeel Academy has gone 6-0 against Fort Meade recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. Both will face off at 8:00 p.m. without much rest having both just played. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

McKeel Academy is headed into Friday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight game on Thursday. They took a 69-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of Bell Creek Academy. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 387th, while the Panthers are ranked 158th).

Meanwhile, Fort Meade got the win against Mulberry on Thursday by a conclusive 69-49. The Miners have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 20 points or more this season.

McKeel Academy better keep an eye on Omari Russell. He was instrumental in Fort Meade's win, putting up 27 points along with six steals and five boards. Another player making a difference was Mekhi Berrien, who posted 14 points in addition to seven rebounds and five assists.

Fort Meade smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in six consecutive games.

Fort Meade has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.5 points per game. As for McKeel Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 6-9.

McKeel Academy beat Fort Meade 50-42 in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Will McKeel Academy repeat their success, or does Fort Meade have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.