Basketball Preview: Fort Lauderdale Flying L's vs. Boyd Anderson Cobras
The Fort Lauderdale Flying L will be staying on the road on Monday to face off against the Boyd Anderson Cobras at 6:00 p.m. on February 5th. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.
Last Tuesday, Fort Lauderdale was beaten by the Lightning 63-26. While losing is never fun, Fort Lauderdale can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 514th, while the Lightning are ranked 103rd).
Fort Lauderdale's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Azaziah Evans-Blake, who scored nine points, and Maranda Byrnes who scored 11 points. That was a full 34.6% of Fort Lauderdale's points, marking the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Boyd Anderson came up short against the Lightning on Tuesday and fell 45-34.
Boyd Anderson's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Jakaylia Roland, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds and five steals, and Ja'Kira Dennis who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and five steals. Roland is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Kristian Watson was another key contributor, scoring a point along with five rebounds and three steals.
Even though they lost, Boyd Anderson smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. This was only their 14th loss (out of 21 games) when they hit their own glass that hard.
Fort Lauderdale's defeat was their seventh straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 5-10. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 22.6 points per game. As for Boyd Anderson, they have been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last ten matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-17 record this season.
Fort Lauderdale took a serious blow against the Cobras in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 40-10. Can Fort Lauderdale avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
