Basketball Game Preview: Sunlake Seahawks vs. Gulf Buccaneers

Sunlake has gone 9-0 against Gulf recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Sunlake Seahawks will look to defend their home court against the Gulf Buccaneers at 6:30 p.m. Sunlake is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.

Last Thursday, Sunlake beat Lecanto 43-30. Given the Seahawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 139th, while the Panthers are ranked 282nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Kaycie Hyde was her usual excellent self, going 6 for 8 en route to 15 points in addition to eight boards and five steals. She is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 16 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Cherity Powells, who posted seven points along with nine rebounds and seven steals.

Sunlake smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in eight consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, after soaring to 76 points the game before, Gulf was a bit more limited in their game on Tuesday. They were dealt a 50-23 loss at the hands of River Ridge. The matchup marked the Buccaneers' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

Sunlake is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. As for Gulf, the defeat snapped their winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 9-5 record.

Everything came up roses for Sunlake against Gulf when the teams last played back in January of 2024, as the squad secured a 54-12 win. Will Sunlake repeat their success, or does Gulf have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.