Basketball Recap: Ej Jenkins' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Crystal River over Hernando

If Crystal River was riding high fresh off their 84-57 takedown of Weeki Wachee last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The matchup between the Crystal River Pirates and the Hernando Leopards didn't end well, with the Crystal River Pirates falling 67-53. The Pirates were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Leopards earlier this season, when they won 55-52.

Crystal River lost on Tuesday despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Ej Jenkins, who went 5 for 10 en route to 10 points and seven boards. Gavin Eddings was another key player, putting up seven points and seven assists.

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Previous 1 Games

01/14/25 - Away

53-67 L

Even though they lost, Crystal River smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in nine consecutive contests.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Hernando to victory, but perhaps none more so than Michael Brown, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Brown a new career-high in blocks (four). Another player making a difference was Daniel Merizalde, who went 7 of 13 on his way to 17 points and five assists.

Crystal River's loss dropped their record down to 9-7. As for Hernando, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 13-5.

Crystal River will take on Nature Coast Tech at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Hernando, they will challenge Citrus at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hernando is facing Citrus at the right time seeing as Citrus is stuck on a seven-game losing streak.