Basketball Recap: Nova Comes Up Short

Nova and Southridge squared off in some playoff action on Friday, but Nova had to settle for second. They fell 65-54 to the Southridge Spartans. The Titans were not able to make up for their defeat to the Spartans from their previous meeting back in November of 2023.

Jaelynn Housey

Points

02/21/25 vs Southridge	28
02/18/25 vs Martin County	21
02/13/25 vs Coral Springs	18
02/08/25 vs South Broward	12
02/06/25 vs Cooper City	10
+ 23 more games

When it comes to explaining why Nova lost, don't look at Jaelynn Housey. Despite the final result, she posted 28 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Housey continues to improve, besting her previous point total in each of the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was J'Yan Tyrell, who put up 11 points and eight boards.

Even though they lost, Nova smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 13 consecutive contests.

Leading Southridge to victory were Sakura Barnes and Dianka Hardisson. Barnes scored 22 points, while Hardisson earned 19 points. That's the most points Barnes has posted since back in November of 2024.

Nova's loss dropped their record down to 22-6. As for Southridge, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-10 record this season.

Nova does not have any more games scheduled as of now. After both having extra time off, Southridge and Steinbrenner will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 9:00 a.m. on March 6th. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Steinbrenner sitting on three straight wins and Southridge on five.