Basketball Game Preview: Lake Wales Highlanders vs. Leesburg Yellow Jackets

The Lake Wales Highlanders will face off against the Leesburg Yellow Jackets at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Lake Wales comes in on four and Leesburg on five.

Lake Wales is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 55-52 victory over Gateway. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Highlanders have posted since January 5, 2024.

Dackjerlin Senior

Rebounds

02/13/25 vs Gateway	7
02/08/25 vs Sebring	3
02/06/25 vs Freedom	4
01/31/25 vs Sebring	5
01/25/25 vs Lake Mary	4
+ 8 more games

Lake Wales can attribute much of their success to Tateyanna Mickel, who went 5-for-7 en route to 12 points and five steals, and Dackjerlin Senior, who went 5-for-9 on her way to 10 points and seven boards. That's the most rebounds Senior has posted since back in December of 2024. Vanessa Squire was another key player, putting up ten points and three blocks.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Leesburg). They were the clear victor by a 78-54 margin over Wesley Chapel on Thursday. The Yellow Jackets have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matches by 21 points or more this season.

Leesburg's win came from a few key players Lake Wales will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ariyana Hester, who earned 30 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Saige Mccloud, who scored 20 points.

Lake Wales' victory bumped their record up to 17-8. As for Leesburg, their win bumped their record up to 13-9.

Lake Wales couldn't quite finish off Leesburg in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 and fell 37-35. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hester, who put up 20 points. Now that Lake Wales knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.