Recap: Winter Haven Blue Devils vs. Palm Bay Pirates
On Friday, the Winter Haven Blue Devils faced the Palm Bay Pirates in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Winter Haven walked away with a 56-49 victory over Palm Bay. The victory was familiar territory for Winter Haven who now have four in a row.
Winter Haven found their leader in underclassman Serenity Hardy, who scored 20 points along with two blocks. That makes it five consecutive games in which Hardy has scored at least a third of Winter Haven's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaeden Williams, who scored 14 points along with two steals.
When it comes to explaining why Palm Bay lost, one person who can't be blamed is Kiara Williams. Despite the final result, she scored 15 points along with six rebounds. Erynn Moffett was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with nine rebounds.
Winter Haven pushed their record up to 17-5 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.8 points per game. As for Palm Bay, their loss dropped their record down to 15-6.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Winter Haven won't have much time to rest: their next match is against West Orange at 7:30 p.m. on January 20th. West Orange will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 93rd, while Winter Haven is ranked tenth). As for Palm Bay, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Cocoa at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Cocoa has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 248 points over their last four matchups.
