Basketball Game Preview: Charlotte Fightin' Tarpons vs. Gulf Coast Sharks

The Charlotte Fightin' Tarpons will challenge the Gulf Coast Sharks at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Charlotte is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by DeSoto County to the tune of 70-35 on Tuesday. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Fightin' Tarpons had established a 21 point advantage.

Meanwhile, Gulf Coast blew past Lehigh, posting a 57-23 victory. Given the Sharks' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 121st, while the Lightning are ranked 400th), the result on Monday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Charlotte better keep an eye on Lilly Fultz. She was instrumental in Gulf Coast's win, putting up 22 points. Jena Walsh was another key player, scoring 12 points.

Gulf Coast is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.0 points per game. As for Charlotte, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 15-8.

Charlotte strolled past Gulf Coast in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 by a score of 53-39. Does Charlotte have another victory up their sleeve, or will Gulf Coast turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.