The Crystal River Pirates will take on the Citrus Hurricanes at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Crystal River will head into Tuesday's match out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Tuesday. They lost 80-54 to Lecanto. The Pirates haven't had much luck with the Panthers recently, as the team's come up short the last eight times they've met.
Despite their loss, Crystal River saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Gavin Eddings, who posted 13 points and five rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Ej Jenkins, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 14 points.
Meanwhile, Citrus came up short against Pasco on Wednesday, falling 84-61.
Defeat or not, Citrus got some senior leadership from Ashton Jenkins and Landon Hensley. Jenkins went 8 of 12 on his way to 17 points along with four steals and three blocks, while Hensley put up 21 points in addition to six assists and four steals. The dominant performance gave Jenkins a new career-high in steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Walker Tyler, who had six points along with nine boards and four blocks.
Crystal River now has a losing record at 3-4. As for Citrus, they dropped their record down to 1-6 with the loss, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Crystal River has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 27.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Citrus struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Crystal River was able to grind out a solid victory over Citrus when the teams last played back in January, winning 60-50. Will Crystal River repeat their success, or does Citrus have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
