Basketball Game Preview: Palmetto Ridge Bears vs. Golden Gate Titans

The Palmetto Ridge Bears will face off against the Golden Gate Titans at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Palmetto Ridge has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Palmetto Ridge is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They came out on top against Estero by a score of 86-73 on Friday.

Palmetto Ridge's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Juju Castillo led the charge by going 9 of 17 en route to 27 points along with five assists and five steals. Castillo is becoming a predictor of Palmetto Ridge's success: when he posts at least five steals the team is 9-2 (and 2-4 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Jeriah Muldrow, who almost dropped a double-double on 22 points and nine boards.

Castillo wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Palmetto Ridge was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 81-54, which was the final score in Golden Gate's tilt against Lehigh on Friday. The Titans haven't had much luck with the Lightning recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.

Golden Gate's loss dropped their record down to 6-12. As for Palmetto Ridge, their win bumped their record up to 11-6.

Palmetto Ridge strolled past Golden Gate in their previous matchup back in December of 2024 by a score of 56-38. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Golden Gate's Sam Powell, who went 8 of 18 on his way to 23 points and seven boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Palmetto Ridge still be able to contain Powell? There's only one way to find out.