Basketball Recap: Tyler Gonser's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Durant over Plant City

Durant was the 56-45 winner over Plant City when they last played one another back in February of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Durant Cougars took a 68-53 bruising from the Plant City Raiders on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 513th, while the Raiders are ranked 149th).

Several Cougars players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Tyler Gonser, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds. Those 11 boards gave Gonser a new career-high. Ian Ibanez was another key player, putting up 11 points.

It was another big night for Gavin Tinsley, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 12 rebounds for Plant City. The game was Tinsley's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Patrick Wright, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 11 points.

Durant has been struggling recently as they've lost nine of their last ten matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-13 record this season. As for Plant City, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-5.

Durant will square off against Sickles at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Sickles' favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last three contests. As for Plant City, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 75-61 win against Robinson on the 15th.