Basketball Recap: Bell Creek Academy Comes Up Short

Bell Creek Academy suffered their closest defeat since January 6, 2024 on Saturday. They fell just short of the Mainland Buccaneers by a score of 72-69. The Panthers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Lyrique Sartin

Points

02/01/25 @ Mainland	30
01/31/25 @ Edgewater	16
01/29/25 vs Patel	39
01/24/25 vs Hawthorne	21
01/21/25 @ IMG Academy Black	31

When it comes to explaining why Bell Creek Academy lost, don't look at Lyrique Sartin. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 30 points and ten rebounds. The match was Sartin's 22nd in a row with at least ten points. Armani Morris was another key player, putting up ten points along with seven steals and six boards.

Even though they lost, Bell Creek Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mainland only racked up 12 assists.

Mainland found their leader in sophomore Kade Manley, who went 6 of 12 en route to 21 points. Manley has been hot recently, having posted 21 or more points the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Canyon Powers, who went 7 for 10 on his way to 17 points and seven rebounds.

Bell Creek Academy's loss dropped their record down to 14-10. As for Mainland, the victory was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 16-9.

The two teams are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. Bell Creek Academy will face off against Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Bell Creek Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 67 points per game this season. As for Mainland, they will take on Oviedo on Wednesday. Mainland knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past ten games -- so hopefully Oviedo likes a good challenge.