Basketball Preview: Bartram Trail Bears vs. Ponte Vedra Sharks
The Bartram Trail Bears will challenge the Ponte Vedra Sharks at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Bartram Trail focused on turnovers this week as the team gave up 12 on Friday.
Ponte Vedra is facing Bartram Trail at the wrong time: Bartram Trail suffered their first home loss of the season on Friday and they're likely out for redemption. They fell just short of the Golden Eagles by a score of 37-34. The contest marked the Bears' lowest-scoring match so far this season.
Defeat or not, Bartram Trail got some senior leadership from Landon Geren and David Souza. Geren earned 13 points plus two steals, while Souza went 5 for 12 en route to 10 points plus two blocks. Geren is crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Jaxon Williamson was another key player, scoring six points.
Meanwhile, Ponte Vedra came tearing into Friday's matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.5 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Panthers by a score of 46-35. Given the Sharks' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 49th, while the Panthers are ranked 144th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Ponte Vedra to victory, but perhaps none more so than Trace Westercamp, who had six points plus six rebounds and two blocks. Another player making a difference was Alex Katsikas, who earned six points.
Ponte Vedra's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-1. As for Bartram Trail, their loss dropped their record down to 3-2.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Bartram Trail has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Ponte Vedra struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.7. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Bartram Trail took a serious blow against Ponte Vedra in their previous meeting back in January, falling 79-48. Thankfully for Bartram Trail, Sam Ritchie (who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 24 points) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
