Basketball Game Preview: Lecanto Panthers vs. Cypress Creek Coyotes

After both having extra time off, the Lecanto Panthers and the Cypress Creek Coyotes will dust off their jerseys to square off against one another at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lecanto is coming into the contest hot, having won their last three games.

Lecanto will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Dunnellon, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. Lecanto managed a 52-48 win over Dunnellon two weeks ago.

Lecanto got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Bryleigh Florio out in front who posted 24 points and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Florio has scored at least a third of Lecanto's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Aleena Borgus, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 15 boards.

Lecanto smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 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.

Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Cypress Creek's good fortune finally ran out last Thursday. They were dealt a 66-31 defeat at the hands of River Ridge. While losing is never fun, the Coyotes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 312th, while the Royal Knights are ranked 106th).

Cypress Creek's loss dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Lecanto, they pushed their record up to 6-4 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.